Renal Health - A New Tool for Chronic Kidney Disease - Application Development and a Proposal for Interventional Study

摘要

The aim of this study was to create an application for smartphones for chronic kidney disease (CKD). The development of the application was conducted in three phases: data collection, conception and development of an application called "Renal Health". In the first phase, a literature review was conducted to ground the necessity of a tool to teach the general population about CKD and to give support to CKD patients in their treatment. Semi-structured interviews were then conducted with CKD patients (in hemodialysis or kidney transplant) and the general population to enhance out understanding of the main knowledge gaps about kidney disease. Individuals without CKD reported not knowing the disease (66.7%). Patients on hemodialysis reported difficulties with medication intake and diet (>50%). Transplanted patients had no problems with medication intake and showed to want more nutritional advices. After the development of the application, an usability test was done with CKD patients and specialists to evaluate its clarity and performance, and its acceptance was 89.6%. The use of Renal Health application can be an important tool for the general population, for knowledge acquisition, patients, health care workers, as well as patients' family and caregivers of elderly and children patients.