Design and develop I-HEAL MetS platform to enhance self-management of Metabolic Syndrome among adults living in urban slums

Design and develop I-HEAL MetS platform to enhance self-management of Metabolic Syndrome among adults living in urban slums | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF software Design and develop I-HEAL MetS platform to enhance self-management of Metabolic Syndrome among adults living in urban slums Ashish Joshi, Sandeep Agrawal, Ashoo Grover, Bhavya Malhotra, and 3 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7450446/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is an emerging public health concern in low-resource settings, such as urban slums, driven by rapid urbanization and associated challenges. Despite the identified potential of digital health technologies, their use among these populations is yet to be explored. The existing gaps can be well addressed by using a Human-centered design (HCD), which offers a promising approach in developing digital health interventions. This study aims to describe the design, development, and usability evaluation of “Interactive Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle for self-management of Metabolic Syndrome (I-HEAL MetS)” for individuals living in urban slums of Delhi, India. This study was conducted between December 2023 and September 2024 in the urban slum of Delhi, India. The design and development of the I-HEAL MetS digital platform utilized a human-centered design. The assessments for platform usability and feasibility were conducted based on Nielsen's heuristic evaluation, System Usability Scale, and task assessment methods with 80 participants. Statistical analyses were conducted following SPSS version 22.0. Results The I-HEAL MetS platform comprised of modules on healthy diet, physical activity, healthy mind, and self-management, and showed high usability with a mean SUS score of 82 (SD = 17). Heuristic analysis covered mostly minor (43%) and major (33%) issues, while no issues were catastrophic. Task analysis further showed excellent user performance, with over 80% of users successfully completing major tasks like registration, BMI calculation, and module navigation on their first attempt, suggesting that the platform would be easy to use and would assist in MetS self-management. Conclusions The I-HEAL MetS platform demonstrated high usability and acceptance among urban slum population with limited digital literacy. Additionally, its user-centered, contextually relevant design offered a promising framework for self-management of chronic non-communicable diseases. Metabolic-Syndrome Self-management Digital-health Urban-slum Human-centered-design Usability-evaluation Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 10 Nov, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Nov, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 12 Oct, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 11 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 11 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 11 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 10 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 10 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7450446","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"software","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":516256522,"identity":"2c0a2c60-96a5-4293-b9f2-3f3c1b1d962e","order_by":0,"name":"Ashish 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Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Metabolic-Syndrome, Self-management, Digital-health, Urban-slum, Human-centered-design, Usability-evaluation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7450446/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7450446/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eMetabolic Syndrome (MetS) is an emerging public health concern in low-resource settings, such as urban slums, driven by rapid urbanization and associated challenges. Despite the identified potential of digital health technologies, their use among these populations is yet to be explored. The existing gaps can be well addressed by using a Human-centered design (HCD), which offers a promising approach in developing digital health interventions. This study aims to describe the design, development, and usability evaluation of \u0026ldquo;Interactive Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle for self-management of Metabolic Syndrome (I-HEAL MetS)\u0026rdquo; for individuals living in urban slums of Delhi, India. This study was conducted between December 2023 and September 2024 in the urban slum of Delhi, India. The design and development of the I-HEAL MetS digital platform utilized a human-centered design. The assessments for platform usability and feasibility were conducted based on Nielsen's heuristic evaluation, System Usability Scale, and task assessment methods with 80 participants. Statistical analyses were conducted following SPSS version 22.0.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe I-HEAL MetS platform comprised of modules on healthy diet, physical activity, healthy mind, and self-management, and showed high usability with a mean SUS score of 82 (SD\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;17). Heuristic analysis covered mostly minor (43%) and major (33%) issues, while no issues were catastrophic. Task analysis further showed excellent user performance, with over 80% of users successfully completing major tasks like registration, BMI calculation, and module navigation on their first attempt, suggesting that the platform would be easy to use and would assist in MetS self-management.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe I-HEAL MetS platform demonstrated high usability and acceptance among urban slum population with limited digital literacy. Additionally, its user-centered, contextually relevant design offered a promising framework for self-management of chronic non-communicable diseases.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Design and develop I-HEAL MetS platform to enhance self-management of Metabolic Syndrome among adults living in urban slums","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-18 12:12:09","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7450446/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-11-10T11:09:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-11-08T08:38:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"214476947998645208104949194740334883244","date":"2025-10-27T05:22:42+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-10-12T06:06:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"269864844012430052273062141196635823966","date":"2025-09-11T15:27:05+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"264709276074665474016800583981773451678","date":"2025-09-11T14:06:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-11T13:29:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-11T10:37:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-10T11:02:32+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Digital Health","date":"2025-09-10T10:58:27+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-digital-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Digital Health](https://bmcdigitalhealth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"44247","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/44247/3","title":"BMC Digital Health","twitterHandle":"BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"c8c4b9d0-7126-4e1c-8163-bd830096eea7","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 18th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-27T11:09:53+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-18 12:12:09","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7450446","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7450446","identity":"rs-7450446","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}