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Both physiotherapists interviewed had no concerns with the usability of the proto-
type, but did suggest that 1) the feet should point downward rather than be in a stand-
ing position to allow for ease of marking and analysis and 2) we could, in future
versions of the prototype, consider having a more fine-grained division of the manne-
quin body surface. The physiotherapists were impressed by the potential ability of the
prototype for anytime, anywhere data collection, and hinted that even if the prototype
would have had usability issues, in practice, most patients would overlook this, as the
convenience factor associated with it would outweigh such considerations--for one,
there would be less hospital visits!
4.2 Patient Evaluation
Forty-five patients (26 males, 19 females, mean age 46.1 years) have evaluated the
prototype between September 2006 and January 2007. Out of these, 13 were patients
at the Rheumatology Clinic of Northwick Park Hospital and volunteered to take part
in the study. The remaining 32 participants were members of the U.K. National Fo-
rum of Wheelchair User Groups.
The only qualifying condition was that participants had to have broadband access at
home and allow us to install the wireless router over the five-day evaluation period
(although wireless connectivity is not necessary for pain data upload, it was consid-
ered essential in order to evaluate this aspect of our prototype). Patients were given a
three-page user manual and asked to record pain data at three set times a day, subse-
quently uploading the information at the end of each day to the hospital server. At the
end of the evaluation period, patients were asked to complete a questionnaire (Table
2) in which their opinions over a range of statements were recorded on a 5 point
Likert scale, where 5 corresponded to the most positive response and 1 to the most
negative. Users were also asked to note any other comments they might have had in
respect of the developed application.
Table 2.
Patient
evaluation questionnaire with responses
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