title: Usability and feasibility of health IT interventions to enhance Self-Care for Lymphedema Symptom Management in breast cancer survivors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The-Optimal-Lymph-Flowhealth IT system (TOLF) is a patient-centered, web-and-mobile-based educational and behavioral health IT system focusing on safe, innovative, and pragmatic self-care strategies for lymphedema symptom management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate usability, feasibility, and acceptability of TOLF among the end-user of breast cancer survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two types of usability testing were completed with 30 breast cancer survivors: heuristic evaluation and end-user testing. Each participant was asked to think aloud while completing a set of specified tasks designed to explicate and freely explore the system features. A heuristic evaluation checklist, the Perceived Ease of Use and Usefulness Questionnaire, and The Post Study System Usability Questionnaire were used to evaluate usability of the system. Open-ended questions were used to gather qualitative data. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data were summarized thematically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Breast cancer survivors were very satisfied with the system: 90% (n = 27) rated the system having no usability problems; 10% (n = 3) noted minor cosmetic problems: spelling errors or text font size. The majority of participants 96.6% (n = 29) strongly agreed that the system was easy to use and effective in helping to learn about lymphedema, symptoms and self-care strategies. Themes from the qualitative data included empowerment, high quality information, loving avatar simulation videos, easy accessibility, and user-friendliness.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This usability study provided evidence on breast cancer survivor's acceptance and highly positive evaluation of TOLF's usability as well as feasibility of using technologically-driven delivery model to enhance self-care strategies for lymphedema symptom management.
authors.affiliation: NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Mei R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Axelrod
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Amber A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Guth
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tandon School of Engineering, New York University, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scagliola
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hiotis
authors.affiliation: NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, United States; NYU Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Kavita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rampertaap
authors.affiliation: NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY, United States.
authors.forename: Nardin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: El-Shammaa
keywords: Breast cancer survivor; Breast neoplasms; Feasibility; Health IT; Lymphedema; Lymphedema symptoms; Self-care; Symptoms; Usability