Co-design of a Voice-based App to Monitor Long COVID Symptoms with Its End-users: A Mixed-method Study

Overview

Journal Digit Health

Specialty Medical Informatics

Date 2024 Sep 11

PMID 39257875

Authors

Aurelie Fischer

Gloria Aguayo

India Pinker

Pauline Oustric

Tom Lachaise

Paul Wilmes

Jerome Larche

Charles Benoy

Guy Fagherazzi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: People living with Long COVID (PWLC), which is still a poorly understood disease, often face major issues accessing proper care and frequently feel abandoned by the healthcare system. PWLC frequently report impaired quality of life because of the medical burden, the variability and intensity of symptoms, and insecurity toward the future. These particular needs justify the development of innovative, minimally disruptive solutions to facilitate the monitoring of this complex and fluctuating disease. Voice-based interactions and vocal biomarkers are promising digital approaches for such health monitoring.

Methods: Based on a mixed-method approach, this study describes the entire co-design process of Long COVID Companion, a voice-based digital health app to monitor Long COVID symptoms. Potential end-users of the app, both PWLC and healthcare professionals (HCP) were involved to (1) understand the unmet needs and expectations related to Long COVID care and management, (2) to assess the barriers and facilitators regarding a health monitoring app, (3) to define the app characteristics, including future potential use of vocal biomarkers and (4) to develop a first version of the app.

Results: This study revealed high needs and expectations regarding a digital health app to monitor Long COVID symptoms and the readiness to use vocal biomarkers from end-users. The main expectations included improved care and daily life, and major concerns were linked to accessibility and data privacy. Long COVID Companion was developed as a web application and is composed of a health monitoring component that allows auto-evaluation of symptoms, global health, and scoring relevant symptoms and quality of life using standardized questionnaires.

Conclusions: The Long COVID Companion app will address a major gap and provide day-to-day support for PWLC. However, further studies will be needed following its release, to evaluate its acceptability, usability and effectiveness.

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