Information Needed for Designing a Mobile Application for Increasing Physical Activity in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic degenerative autoimmune disease targeting the central nervous system, causing impairment in both physical and cognitive functioning. There is currently no cure for MS; its treatment is based on symptom management. One way for symptom management is to have physical activity which has been shown to reduce the number, length, and duration of disease relapse and remitting. The opportunities for mobile health use have increased significantly in recent years, largely due to technological advances in mobile applications. This study aims to determine the information needed for designing a mobile application to increase the physical activity of patients with MS.

This is a descriptive study that was done in two stages. Participants were a panel of experts. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire based on the Likert scale with confirmed validity and reliability (Cronbach’s alpha=0.79). Items with an agreement percentage of 50% and more were identified as the required information for the application.

The information requirement were the patient profile (consisted of demographic and clinical information) and application features including education section, physical activity library, reminder system, and fatigue assessment.

The needed information of this program were determined in 2 groups, profile section and app features; The patient's profile includes demographic and clinical information, and the system's features section includes the education section, the physical activity library, the reminder system and the fatigue assessment.