3 research outputs found

    Improving Compliance to Tuberculosis Treatment: Supporting Patients through Mobile Graphic-based Reminders

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    Background: Tuberculosis (TB) treatment is a complex task and requires medical supervision and support. The objective of this study was to assess the utility of a mobile graphic-based reminder (GBR) in improving compliance of patients with TB treatment. Compared to text and speech-based reminder systems, the visual or graphic application is suggested to be more effective in supporting treatment particularly in semi-literate and illiterate patients. Methods: The study was conducted in Zanzibar, Tanzania and included patients with active TB and already taking anti-TB drugs. The study was conducted over five weeks from July to August 2015. Participants were randomly assigned into three groups: control (n=10), speech-based reminder (n=10), and GBR (n=10) groups. Participants in the intervention groups (speech-based and GBR) received daily mobile reminder messages. Quantitative application responses and qualitative data resulting from semi-structured interviews from the patients were collected. Comparative analyses were undertaken between GBR and traditional care, and between GBR and speech- based reminders. Results: The findings indicated that the GBR system led to increase in treatment adherence (90%) compared with speech-based reminder (70%) and traditional care (60%). Findings also show that there were high efficacy and acceptability of mobile reminders in the GBR group with the average response rate of 60.1 compared with 50.6 in the speech-based reminder group (p<0.01). Conclusions: The GBR was more beneficial and accepted for use by the majority of the patients including those with limited education. This study suggests that mobile GBR system can be used to support compliance with the treatment regimen in both literate and illiterate TB patients

    Human-Computer User Interface Design for Semiliterate and Illiterate Users

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    Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionized the lives of the people. The technology is embedded in daily life of literate or semiliterate/illiterate users. However, the user interface (UI) requirements for semiliterate/illiterate users are different from that of an educated person. The researchers of Human Computer Interaction for Development (HCI4D) face challenges to improve the usability of a UI for the semiliterate users. Therefore, a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) is conducted to provide a set of design factors and guidelines for UI development of semiliterate users. The study is based on extensive research gathered from literature to understand the user-centered design (UCD) approach, enhancing user experience (UX) for semiliterate users. This study analyses fifty two research articles that are published during 2010-2020. The findings shed light on the systematization of UI design guidelines for semiliterate/illiterate users. These guidelines can help in taking advantage of ICT during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis shows that seventeen main design factors are indispensable for designing UI of semiliterate users. The most suggested design factors include localization and graphics, which should be incorporated in UI for the target population. Moreover, the lag in the design factors as personalization and consistency open a road for future research

    Investigating mobile graphic-based reminders to support compliance of tuberculosis treatment

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    The phenomenon of rapid increment of the mobile phones can be utilized through supporting patients, such as those who have tuberculosis, for treatment adherence. This utilization will enable these patients to directly communicate their needs and requirements or receive health information such as reminder messages from healthcare facilities. However, the current mobile interventions, such as text messaging and speech reminder systems have limited use for people with low literacy levels. To overcome these challenges, this study proposed that the mobile graphic-based reminders be used to support tuberculosis patients to improve compliance with treatment regimens, especially for semi-literate and illiterate patients. A review of the literature and initial investigation study were carried out. The findings from the review were useful in understanding both the current practice of tuberculosis treatment regimens and the patients' needs and requirements. These findings, in addition, were referred in the choices of the components of the mobile graphic-based reminders to be implemented. A visual aid for communication theory was applied to the design and development of graphic-based reminder prototypes. An application prototype was implemented for the Android platform. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of an application prototype in supporting tuberculosis treatment. To measure the effect, the recovery rate was measured based on the effect of: (1) the graphic-based reminder group versus the control group; and (2) the graphic-based reminder group versus the speech-based reminder group. Data was collected using application event logs, interviews, field notes and audio recordings. It was found that treatment adherence of patients in the graphic-based group was higher than in the speech-based or in the control groups. It was further noted that the number of reminder responses in the graphic-based group was higher than in the speech-based group. Additionally, it was observed that patients in the graphic-based group responded sooner after receiving reminder messages compared to those in the speech-based group. The qualitative feedback also indicated that most patients not only found graphic-based reminders more useful to supporting their treatment than speech-based reminders and traditional care but believed that the application met their needs. This study provides empirical evidence that graphic-based reminders, designed for and based on patients' needs and requirements, can support the treatment of tuberculosis for patients of all literacy levels
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