Development and validation of mobile application for teaching the subject of pain management in palliative care

Abstract

Introduction:

Pain evaluation has become an increasingly relevant concern for healthcare workers. According to the World Health Organization’s definition of Palliative Care, early identification, evaluation, and treatment of pain are important.

Objective:

Developing and rating an app for mobile devices that focuses on teaching the subject of pain management in Palliative Care.

Research Methodology:

The app was developed as a learning tool and tested by resident physicians while undergoing a qualitative and quantitative prospective evaluation. Mock tests were taken. The usability of the app was rated through the System Usability Scale (SUS), and satisfaction with the app was rated through the Net Promoter Score (NPS). The data was charted by using Microsoft Office Excel ® and was exported to the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 (IBM) software: an analysis was run with a 95% confidence interval. As for the qualitative analysis of the resident physicians’ evaluations, all available content was transcribed and properly organized in word clouds in order to highlight the most important pieces of feedback that the physicians presented regarding the app. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee.

Main Results:

The PaliPain App was developed as a database filled with clinical cases of patients undergoing palliative care who were experiencing varying levels of pain, and also presents analysis of test questions, videos and images. It was made available for the Android and iOS platforms. The average correct answers in a mock test about pain management during palliative care rose from 6.08 to 7.54. Thirteen resident physicians made use of the app. In the evaluation of the app’s usability, the average SUS score was 89.2. In the evaluation of user satisfaction, 54% of the resident physicians answered the question “from a scale of 0 to 10, what is the likelihood of you recommending the PaliPan app to a friend or colleague?” with a score of 10.

Conclusion:

The PaliPain App, developed and available on Android and iOS platforms, was well evaluated by resident physicians, presenting excellent scores for both usability and satisfaction. We identified that there was a gain in knowledge, with an average score in the resolution of questions increasing from 6.08 to 7.54 after free use of the application. The PaliPan app could be a useful tool to teach the subject of pain to resident physicians.

Keywords:
Pain Management; Palliative Medicine; Medical Education; Mobile Apps