The usability and usefulness of personal health records (PHRs) for supporting chronic disease management: A framework analysis approach

Abstract Background Personal health records (PHRs) are a major footstone for “improving the self-management of patients”. However, its effectiveness can be low if people do not find it beneficial to their management care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usability and usefulness of a web-based PHR for self-management improvement in patients with chronic kidney disease. Methods The present study was conducted in 2021 as qualitative research using a framework analysis approach. The study population consisted of patients who had experienced using chronic kidney disease personal health records (CKDPHR) and were willing to participate in the study. Snowball sampling was used to select 12 participants for the semistructured interviews. The Guba and Lincoln criteria, including credibility, transferability, confirmability and dependability, were used to determine reliability and transparency, and finally, a five-step framework analysis method was used to analyze the data. Results Analysis of the data led to the identification of 2 main themes, 8 subthemes and 23 main categories. The first main theme was “practical worth”, which included personal health management, personal health adherence, personal decision support, personal information management and communication management, and the second main theme was “use free of effort”, which included error handling, the feasibility of recall and subjective pleasure. Conclusion The results of these studies highlight that chronic patients want PHRs to be made more personal and tailored according to their needs to improve their usefulness and encourage them to use such a system on a regular basis.