Human factors/usability barriers to home medical devices among individuals with disabling conditions: in-depth interviews with positive airway pressure device users.

Fung CH, Igodan U, Alessi C, Martin JL, Dzierzewski JM, Josephson K, Kramer BJ. Human factors/usability barriers to home medical devices among individuals with disabling conditions: in-depth interviews with positive airway pressure device users. Disability and health journal. 2015 Jan 1; 8(1):86-92.

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that medical equipment often fails to accommodate the needs of individuals with disabling conditions. Few studies have focused on the accessibility of home medical devices such as positive airway pressure (PAP), which is a type of home medical equipment prescribed for long-term therapy. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore in detail the types of difficulties experienced by patients with physical/sensory impairments who use PAP devices, as an initial step in designing a questionnaire to survey users about this topic. METHODS: In this descriptive study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 participants (9 patients with physical/sensory impairment and 10 health care providers). Interviews were coded and analyzed for major topics. RESULTS: Participants detailed the numerous ways in which current PAP devices fail to meet the needs of individuals with physical/sensory impairments (e.g., tremor, poor depth perception, paresis), by requiring patients to perform manually difficult tasks, such as inserting PAP parts through small apertures, attaching parts using a twisting motion, and lifting arms overhead to apply PAP headgear. These demands contributed to patients' frustration with and reduced usage of the home medical device. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that home medical devices such as PAP may not be currently designed to meet the needs of some users with physical/sensory impairments. Additional studies are needed to measure the prevalence and impact of impairment-related barriers on PAP adherence for this common medical equipment.