Unlabelled: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the use of telemedicine application (apps), which has seen an uprise. This study evaluated the usability of the user interface design of telemedicine apps deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. It also explored changes to the apps' usability based on the pandemic timeline.
Methods: We screened ten mHealth apps published by the National Digital Transformation Unit and selected three telemedicine apps: (1) governmental "Seha" app, (2) stand-alone "Cura" app, and (3) private "Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib"app. We conducted the evaluations in April 2020 and in June 2021 by identifying positive app features, using Nielsen's ten usability heuristics with a five-point severity rating scale, and documenting redesign recommendations.
Results: We identified 54 user interface usability issues during both evaluation periods: 18 issues in "Seha" 14 issues in "Cura", and 22 issues in "Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib". The two most heuristic items violated in "Seha", were "user control and freedom" and "recognition rather than recall". In "Cura", the three most heuristic items violated were "consistency and adherence to standards", "esthetic and minimalist design", and "help and documentation" In "Dr. Sulaiman Alhabib" the most heuristic item violated was "error prevention". Ten out of the thirty usability issues identified from our first evaluation were no longer identified during our second evaluation.
Conclusions: our findings indicate that all three apps have a room for improving their user interface designs to improve the overall user experience and to ensure the continuity of these services beyond the pandemic.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9111574 | DOI Listing |
Am J Trop Med Hyg
January 2025
Department of Microbiology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
The phylogeographic inference approach aims to connect genomic data with epidemiology to understand the spread and evolution of pathogens using visualization of spatiotemporal reconstructions. Orthohantavirus hantanense (HTNV), the causative agent of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), represents a significant global public health concern. Here, we introduce a localized Nextstrain platform for HTNV, offering a comprehensive resource for facilitating spatiotemporal genomic surveillance and the study of evolutionary dynamics of viral genomes.
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January 2025
School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Despite the potential of smart home technologies (SHT) to support everyday activities, the implementation rate of such technology in the homes of older adults remains low. The overall aim of this study was to explore factors involved in the decision-making process in adopting SHT among current and future generations of older adults. We also aimed to identify and understand barriers and facilitators that can better support older adults' engagement in everyday activities.
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View Article and Find Full Text PDFBio Protoc
January 2025
University of Bordeaux, CNRS, IBGC UMR 5095, Bordeaux, France.
Stable-isotope resolved metabolomics (SIRM) is a powerful approach for characterizing metabolic states in cells and organisms. By incorporating isotopes, such as C, into substrates, researchers can trace reaction rates across specific metabolic pathways. Integrating metabolomics data with gene expression profiles further enriches the analysis, as we demonstrated in our prior study on glioblastoma metabolic symbiosis.
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