Abstract
Background
Large-scale cohort studies are needed to confirm the relation between dementia and its possible risk factors. The inclusion of people with dementia in research is a challenge, however, children of people with dementia are at risk and are highly motivated to participate in dementia research. For technologies to support home-based data collection during large-scale studies, participants should be able and willing to use technology for a longer period of time.
Objective
This study investigated acceptance and usability of iVitality, a research platform for home-based monitoring of dementia health indicators, in 151 children of people with dementia and investigated which frequency of measurements is acceptable for them.
Methods
Participants were randomized to fortnightly or monthly measurements. At baseline and after 3 months, participants completed an online questionnaire regarding the acceptance (Technology Acceptance Model; 38 items) and usability (Post-Study System Usability Questionnaire; 24 items) of iVitality. Items were rated from 1 (I totally disagree) to 7 (I totally agree). Participants were also invited to take part in an online focus group (OFG) after 3 months of follow-up. Descriptive statistics and both two-sample/independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze the online questionnaires and a directed content analysis was used to analyze the OFGs.
Results
Children of people with dementia accept iVitality after long-term use and evaluate iVitality as a user-friendly, useful, and trusted technology, despite some suggestions for improvement. Overall, mean scores on acceptance and usability were higher than 5 (I somewhat agree), although the acceptance subscales “social influence” and “time” were rated somewhat lower. No significant differences in acceptance and usability were found between both protocol groups. Over time, “affect” significantly increased among participants measuring blood pressure fortnightly.
Conclusion
iVitality has the potential to be used in large-scale studies for home-based monitoring of health indicators related to the development of dementia.
Acknowledgments
The work was supported by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and was enabled by ZonMw (project 627002001). In addition, the authors acknowledge the contributions of Simon Mooijaart and Edo Richard to the conception and design, the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data. Furthermore, we would like to thank the participants for their time and motivation to participate in this study.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.