Purpose

As part of a larger study to test the efficacy of the Concussion Coach cell phone application for patients with post-concussion symptoms, qualitative data were gathered to assess barriers and facilitators for app use and differences in use of the app among those who declined or improved in symptom severity, or were low-use users.

Materials and Methods

Using a prospective descriptive study design, 35 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted between 2016–2018. Participants had a history of mild traumatic brain injury and were symptomatic. Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Results

Primary facilitators were the app’s ease of use, privacy, availability/portability, and increased self-efficacy of the user. Primary barriers were a lack of sufficient app training, stigma, overly “basic” content, and symptom severity. While there were not prominent differences among user groups, users whose symptom severity improved described using more modules of the app than users who declined. Low-users attributed not using the app to content that was too basic or to their forgetting.

Conclusion

Interview data suggest that Concussion Coach can benefit Veterans with post-concussive symptoms through increased agency, perceived benefits to emotional well-being, and the availability of non-stigmatized strategies for symptom management.

中文翻译：

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定性评估使用智能手机应用程序管理脑外伤退伍军人的脑震荡后症状。

目的

作为测试脑震荡教练手机应用程序对脑震荡后症状患者疗效的一项较大研究的一部分，收集了定性数据以评估应用程序使用的障碍和促进者以及拒绝或改善的人之间应用程序使用的差异症状严重或使用率低的用户。

材料和方法

使用前瞻性描述性研究设计，在2016-2018年之间进行了35次半结构化定性访谈。参与者有轻度脑外伤史，并且有症状。访谈数据使用定性内容分析法进行分析。

结果

主要的促进因素是该应用程序的易用性，隐私性，可用性/可移植性以及提高的用户自我效能。主要障碍是缺乏足够的应用程序培训，污名，过度的“基本”内容以及症状严重性。尽管用户组之间没有显着差异，但症状严重程度得到改善的用户所描述的应用程序模块数量要多于拒绝的用户。低级用户将未使用该应用归因于过于基本的内容或他们忘记了。

结论

访谈数据表明，脑震荡教练可以通过增加机能，感知到的情绪健康益处以及可用的不带污点的症状管理策略，使患有脑震荡后症状的退伍军人受益。