The mChoice app: usability evaluation of a patient tool for PrEP adherence monitoring and sexual behaviors (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) provide easy and quick access for users to monitor their health-related activities. Features such as medication reminders help users adhere to their medication schedules and automatically record these actions, thereby helping track their overall health management. Due to insufficient mHealth tools tailored to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) preventive care for young men who have sex with men (MSM), our study evaluated the usability of the mChoice app, a tool designed to enhance pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) adherence and promote sexual health (e.g., encouraging the use of condoms and being aware of the partner’s HIV status and PrEP use). OBJECTIVE To apply systematic usability evaluations to test the mChoice app and to refine the visualizations to better capture and display patient-reported health information. METHODS Methods: Usability testing involved heuristic evaluations conducted with five experts in informatics and user testing with twenty young MSM who were taking or eligible to take PrEP. RESULTS Results: Participants demonstrated satisfaction with the appearance of the mChoice app, reporting that the app has an intuitive interface to track PrEP adherence. However, participants highlighted areas needing improvement, including chart titles and the inclusion of ‘undo’ and ‘edit’ buttons to improve user control when recording PrEP use. CONCLUSIONS Conclusions: Usability evaluations should be considered in the app’s development to ensure the effectiveness of the app’s future iterations. CLINICALTRIAL