Platform Presentation The Joint Annual Meeting of the Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA) and Smartstrokes 2023

Evaluating Health Care Professionals’ and Patients’ Perceptions of Digital Solutions for Stroke Prevention: A Mixed Methods Study of Usability and Satisfaction Levels (#23)

Balakrishnan Nair 1 , Rita Krishnamurthi 1 , Anjali Bhatia 1 , Oleg Medvedev 2 , Alexander Merkin 1 , Jesse Dyer 1 , Michael Kravchenko 3 , Shabnam Jalili - Moghaddam 1 , Suzanne Barker-Collo 4 , Yogini Ratnasabapathy 5 , Luke Skinner 5 , Joyce Wan 5 , Mayowa Owolabi 6 , Bo Norrving 7 , Perminder Sachdev 8 , Bruce Arroll 9 , Michael Brainin 10 , Amanda Thrift 11 , Graeme Hankey 12 , Valery Feigin 1
  1. National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences, Auckland University of Technology, Akoranga, Auckland, New Zealand
  2. School of Psychology, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
  3. Research Center of Neurology, Moscow, Russia
  4. School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
  5. Stroke Units, Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand Waitematā, Waitakere, Auckland, New Zealand
  6. Center for Genomic and Precision Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
  7. Section of Neurology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
  8. Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA), School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia
  9. Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, The University of Auckland, Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand
  10. Danube University, Krems, Austria
  11. Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  12. Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Perth, Australia

Background: Stroke is a leading cause of death and long-term disability that affects people of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Evidence-based health-related digital technologies have been identified as critical tools for enhancing interventions to prevent stroke, but few such tools are available. The PreventS-MD software is a validated digital tool that enables healthcare professionals (HCPs) to assess patients’ 5- and 10-year risk of stroke and provide patient-centred, evidence-based recommendations, empowering and motivating patients to control their risk factors.

Aims: To determine the satisfaction and usability of PreventS-MD software for stroke prevention from both patient and HCP perspectives.

Methods: A mixed methods design was used for this international study of 100 HCPs from 27 countries (from high- and low- to middle-income countries) with diverse demographic and specialities and 10 people with stroke admitted to a public hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. All 100 international HCPs and ten people with stroke completed the System Usability Survey (SUS) to determine the usability of PreventS-MD software for primary and secondary stroke. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with two New Zealand-based doctors (from the international sample) and 10 people with stroke. Interviews were thematically analysed using NVivo software.

Results: SUS scores from HCPs demonstrated excellent software usability (M=81.7; 95% CI [79.1-84.3]), with usefulness response rates ranging from 88% to 98%. Qualitative findings suggested that clinicians found the software was convenient, tailored to the patient’s needs and could help save time. People with stroke reported that the recommendations were easy to understand, could be easily adhered to and were ready to improve their lifestyles.  

Conclusion: PreventS-MD is a usable tool for potentially bridging the gap between current stroke prevention knowledge and community awareness. Further studies are needed to determine its efficacy for stroke prevention.