Introduction: At present, using mobile health applications directed towards increasing adherence to immunosuppressive drugs after transplantation is becoming widespread. However, many mobile health applications have been observed to be created without focusing on patients’ needs. This study aimed to reveal kidney transplant recipients’ needs for mobile health applications that can improve their adherence to immunosuppressive drugs.
Methods: A mixed design was adopted and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The study sample included 144 kidney transplant recipients presenting to a university hospital between May and September in 2023. Data collection was performed through a sociodemographic and clinical features form, Questionnaire of Healthcare Services for Immunosuppressive Drugs, Questionnaire of Mobile Application Use and Questionnaire of Features of Mobile Applications for Medication Adherence and a semi-structured interview form. Qualitative data were collected from 10 patients having experience in mobile health application.
Results: The mean age of the kidney transplant recipients was 42.41±10.63 years. All the patients had Internet access, 65.27% had not heard about mobile health applications before, 72.22% had not used mobile health applications before and 74.30% wanted to use a mobile health application for medication adherence if it is recommended by health professionals. All the participants requested that the mobile application should have a reminder for medications and provide a medication adherence report. Qualitative data analysis revealed three main themes: factors facilitating medication use, barriers to medication use and expectations from a mobile application.
Conclusion: The patients were found to be willing to use mobile health applications aiming to enhance adherence to immunosuppressive medications. The most frequently demanded features of the mobile applications were medication reminder and medication adherence report. It can be recommended that needs for mobile health applications should examined especially in different age groups with an experience in mobile health applications for medication adherence and patients with different organ transplantations.