[The Design Requirements for an E-Health Management Platform: Addressing the Needs of Adolescent Girls at High Risk of Metabolic Syndrome].
BACKGROUND
The rising prevalence of metabolic syndrome among adolescents has not been effectively addressed by current campus-based health promotions. Using the Internet in these promotions may help health professionals achieve better healthcare management.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the present study was to explore the design requirements of an e-health management platform from the subjective perspective of adolescent girls who were at a high risk of metabolic syndrome. The findings may provide a reference for designing nursing interventions that more effectively promote healthly lifestyle habits to adolescents.


METHODS
This qualitative study employed a snowball approach and used a semi-structured interview guide to collect data. A total of 20 Taiwanese adolescent females who were at a high risk of metabolic syndrome, aged 16-20 years, able to speak Mandarin or Taiwanese, and willing to participate and to have their sessions tape-recorded were enrolled as participants and engaged individually in in-depth interviews. The constant comparative method was used to inductively analyze the interview data.


RESULTS
Five main themes related to the e-health management platform emerged from the data. These themes included: an attractive and user-friendly website interface, access to reliable information and resources, provision of tailored health information, access to peer support, and self-monitoring and learning tools.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings highlight the key design needs of an e-Health management platform from the perspective of adolescent girls who are at a high risk of metabolic syndrome. The identified themes may be addressed in future revisions / developments of these platforms in order to better address the needs of this vulnerable population and to effectively reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome. The authors hope that the results of the present study may be used to provide better healthcare and support for adolescent girls with metabolic syndrome.
Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC.
Mei-Chen
MC
Su
Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering and Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, ROC.
Wen-Chin
WC
Chen
School of Nursing, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan, ROC.
Chieh-Yu
CY
Liu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Adventist Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
Hei-Jen
HJ
Jou
Department of Nursing, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, ROC.
Ya-Chu
YC
Hsiao
Department of Nursing, and Vice President, National Taipei University of Nursing and Health Sciences, Taiwan, ROC. leeing.tsao@gmail.com.
Lee-Ing
LI
Tsao
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017216:Telemedicine
adolescent girls; designing requirements; e-health management platform; metabolic syndrome