Mobile health (m-Health); A Communication model for monitoring and improving the quality of life of dialysis patients

Abstract

The present study is intended to answer the question that how the quality of life in dialysis patients can be monitored by mobile-health-based information technology. This was an applied-developmental study, in which the indices introduced in the Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form (KDQOL-SF) were initially ranked from the viewpoints of three groups of physicians, patients and their hospital attendants, and the weighting criteria of each indicator were specified. In the following, the dynamic system for monitoring quality of life in dialysis patients was modeled and designed based on the weight of the obtained indices. The architecture provided for the system is based on three-layer MVC architectural pattern. The reporting services and access levels were also used in the design of the system. The results of ranking of the main indices of the quality of life in chronic kidney patients suggest that although the opinions of the groups of physicians and hospital attendants are different in weighting the criteria, they are similar in ranking of indices. Moreover, accurate analysis and collecting the data obtained from the ranking of quality indices were used in the implementation of the system to form the data model; and after the analysis and modification, a suitable model for system requirements was designed and used.

Keywords

• mobile health
• quality of life
• monitoring quality
• design
• dialysis patient