Development of a chronic kidney disease knowledge website with electronic personal health records for patients

Abstract

Keywords: chronic kidney disease, electronic personal health record, website

Objectives: To develop and evaluate a chronic kidney disease (CKD) knowledge website containing electronic personal health records (ePHR) for CKD patients.

Methods: A CKD knowledge website was developed based on the ADDIE model (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation) and usability guidelines. The user’s needs were assessed by semi-structured interview with three pre-dialysis patients and the contents about CKD, nutrition, exercise, and medication were developed and validated by four experienced nephrologists. An F-shaped pattern and horizontal attention leans left with users’ eye movements were applied. The ePHR was added to the website according to the literature review and was confirmed by using the CKD patient’s needs analysis. The website was implemented on www.banraktai.com. To evaluate the website, 10 users were purposively selected. Data were gathered and analyzed using description statistics.

Results: Three main sections contained knowledge, ePHR, and community and communication. The CKD knowledge was categorized to four essential topics containing CKD, nutrition, exercise, and medication. An ePHR consisted of electronic forms for recording personal information, medication, laboratory testing, dietary pattern, and exercise activity. The website usability evaluation was conducted by using the USE (Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of use) questionnaire (7-point Likert scale ranged from 1= mostly disagree to 7=mostly agree). The average scores of usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning, and satisfaction were 5.03, 5.25, 5.63, and 5.24, respectively. Usability problems were identified by usability test. The average time used for all tasks was 32 minutes compared to 30 minutes by experience users, indicating the efficiency of this website. The effectiveness was determined by accuracy and completeness of the test. The results showed that 89% of all attempts were completed, 9% were partially completed and 2% failed. In addition, the results from direct observation and question were helpful for the improvement of the website.

Conclusion: This study was the preliminary development of a patient education website focusing on CKD knowledge, nutrition and ePHR. This website will be implemented for CKD patients to determine the effectiveness.