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RBApp: Creation and Patterns of Use of an Educational Mobile Application for Radiobiology Calculations in Radiation Therapy

2015; Elsevier BV; Volume: 46; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jmir.2015.03.001

1939-8654

Derek S. Tsang, Christopher Townsend, Xingshan Cao, Ewa Szumacher,

Digital Radiography and Breast Imaging

Introduction RBApp is an educational software program that calculates the biologically effective dose and equivalent dose in 2-Gy fractions, permitting conversion between dose-fractionation schemes in radiation therapy. The purposes of this study were to describe the adoption and current patterns of use of this tool and evaluate user satisfaction with RBApp. Methods RBApp is available as a native app for Android and BlackBerry and a web app for iOS and other devices. User and device characteristics were collected from app store dashboards and server logs; expected values were retrieved from StatCounter Global Stats. A voluntary web-based questionnaire was created to evaluate the patterns of use of RBApp. This questionnaire collected information on user demographics, purpose of use, and user satisfaction. Results Over a 2.75-year period, there were 2,291 installations on Android and BlackBerry devices; 8,074 unique visits were logged to the web app; and 25 respondents completed the web-based questionnaire. Among this group, RBApp was used by radiation oncologists (44.0%), physicists (32.0%), and resident physicians (24.0%). It was used for clinical decision making by 78.3% of users, education and training by 43.5%, and research by 30.4%. Twenty of 22 users (90.9%) were satisfied with RBApp. A greater proportion of web app users used obsolete software to access the application compared with the rest of the global Internet population; 15.2% (95% confidence interval, 12.3%–18.6%) used Windows XP, and 16.0% (95% confidence interval, 13.0%–19.5%) used Internet Explorer 8.0 (expected global proportions 8.5% and 3.1%, respectively). Conclusions In this study, a mobile application for radiobiology calculations and its adoption by the radiation oncology community was evaluated. Users were satisfied with RBApp, and this tool is used for both clinical decision making and educational purposes. However, legacy software use remained prevalent, which may have implications for information security.