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. 2024 Aug 19:12:1420171.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1420171. eCollection 2024.

MoveONParkinson: developing a personalized motivational solution for Parkinson's disease management

Beatriz Alves  1 , Pedro R Mota  2 , Daniela Sineiro  2 , Ricardo Carmo  2 , Pedro Santos  3   4 , Patrícia Macedo  3   5 , João Casaca Carreira  6 , Rui Neves Madeira  3   4 , Sofia Balula Dias #  7 , Carla Mendes Pereira #  6
Affiliations

MoveONParkinson: developing a personalized motivational solution for Parkinson's disease management

Beatriz Alves et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Despite the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions on symptom management and disease progression, many people with Parkinson's Disease (PwPD) do not exercise regularly. In line with the ubiquitous use of digital health technology, the MoveONParkinson digital solution was developed, comprising a Web Platform and a Mobile App with a Conversational Agent (CA). The interface features were designed based on the principles of Social Cognitive Theory with the goal of fostering behavior change in PwPD for sustained exercise participation and improved disease management.

Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, this study aimed to collect feedback, assess the acceptability of the Mobile App and the Web Platform, and evaluate the usability of the latter. Quantitative data, which included questionnaire responses and the System Usability Scale (SUS) scores, were analyzed using descriptive statistics, heatmaps, and correlation matrices. Qualitative data, comprising semi-structured and thinking-aloud interview transcripts, were subjected to an inductive thematic analysis. A total of 28 participants were involved in the study, comprising 20 physiotherapists (average age: 34.50 ± 10.4), and eight PwPD (average age: 65.75 ± 8.63; mean Hoehn & Yahr: 2.0 (± 0.76)).

Results: Three main themes emerged from the thematic analysis of the interviews, namely: Self-management (Theme 1), User Engagement (Theme 2), and Recommendations (Theme 3). The assessment of the Mobile App and the CA (mean score: 4.42/5.0 ± 0.79) suggests that PwPD were able to navigate this interface without notable difficulties. The mean SUS score of 79.50 (± 12.40%) with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 73.70 to 85.30, reveal good usability.

Discussion: These findings indicate a high level of acceptability of the MoveONParkinson digital solution, serving as a foundation for assessing its impact on exercise engagement and, subsequently, its influence on symptom management and quality of life of PwPD.

Keywords: MoveONParkinson; Parkinson’s disease; behavior change; mobile health; self-efficacy; self-management; user engagement.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Screenshots of the MoveONParkinson digital solution. (A) Exercise database of the Web Platform, which menu comprises “Patients,” “Patients’ Passwords,” “Exercises,” “Programs” and “Contacts”; (B) Front page of the MoveONParkinson mobile app; (C) Exercise Module of the mobile app, with a motivational cue provided the Conversational Agent integrated within the mobile app; (D) Video, audio instructions, and exercise prescription within an exercise program; (E) Measurement of Rate of Perceived Exertion (43), which is required both at the beginning and the end of each exercise program; (F) Main screen of the Conversational Agent.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Heatmap with dendrogram showing hierarchical clustering of the eight participants (PwPD) into clusters, according to their responses on each of the 12 questions for assessing the CA. The red color indicates a higher score on a 1–5 Likert scale based on strength of agreement, and the blue color indicates a lower score. Q, Question; P, People with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Correlation matrix displaying the relationships between SUS scores and socio-demographic data of PwPD sample (n = 8). The red color indicates a positive correlation, while the blue color indicates a negative correlation. Q, Question; H&Y, Hoehn and Yahr.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Heatmap with dendrogram showing hierarchical clustering of the 20 participants (physiotherapists) into clusters, according to their responses on each of the 10 SUS questions. For odd-numbered questions, the red color indicates a higher score on a 1–5 Likert scale based on strength of agreement, and the blue color indicating a lower score. The opposite scoring system applies for even-numbered questions. Q, Question; Ft, Physiotherapist.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation matrix displaying the relationships between SUS scores and socio-demographic data of the physiotherapist sample (n = 20). The red color indicates a positive correlation, while the blue color indicating a negative correlation. Q, Question.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Integration of qualitative and quantitative findings regarding the MoveONParkinson interfaces: (A) Mobile App; and (B) Web Platform.
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Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Polytechnic Institute of Setubal (Portugal) and the Horizon Europe research and innovation project “AI-PROGNOSIS: AI-based Parkinson’s disease risk assessment and prognosis,” under Grant Agreement no. 101080581.

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