Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates the psychosocial aspects of adolescent medical device use and the impact on adolescent adherence and goals for the transitional years between child and adulthood.
Patients and methods
Interviews were carried out with 20 adolescents with cystic fibrosis, investigating adolescent medical device use and experiences in relation to their personal and social lives and development through the adolescent years. The qualitative dataset was thematically examined using a content analysis method.
Results
The results show that adolescent users of medical technologies want their independence and capabilities to be respected. Adolescent adherence to medical device use was associated with short- and long-term motivations, where older adolescents were able to comprehend the longer-term benefits of use against short-term inconvenience more acutely than younger adolescents. It was suggested that medical devices could provide a tool for communication with families and clinicians and could support adolescents as they take responsibility for managing their condition. Themes of “fitting into teenage life” and “use in the community” were associated with adolescents’ needs to form their own identity and have autonomy.
Conclusion
This study shows that adolescent needs regarding medical device use are complex. It provides evidence to suggest that devices designed inclusively for adolescents may lead to improved adherence and also facilitate transition through the adolescent years and achievement of adolescent goals.
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our thanks to the staff and patients within the cystic fibrosis clinics in the Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital, Nottingham, UK, without whose help this study would not have been possible. The authors acknowledge support of this work through the MATCH Programme (EPSRC Grant GR/S29874/01), although the views expressed are entirely their own.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. The contents of this paper have not been commissioned and have been externally peer reviewed.