Usability evaluation of blood glucose meters for elderly diabetic patients

Abstract

In the context of this study the usability of the first blood glucose meter that is connectable to a smartphone has been investigated by the use through diabetic patients of different ages and with different technical experiences. According to DIN ISO 2028-1 the participants had to solve usabilitytasks with the think-aloud-method. Additionally the cognitive load has been measured for each task. As control variables we asked for age and gender as well as technical affinity and Health Literacy. A total of 12 participants (mean age = 60.17 years) took part in this study. The results show that elderly diabetic patients are willing and able to use modern blood glucose meters. A blood glucose meter for elderly should store data for about three months and should be able to export data easily to the physician by a file type like CSV. The blood glucose testing strip should have a mark which describes the orientation and way it should be inserted into the blood glucose meter. The testing strip should also be illuminated to improve blood glucose measurements during nighttime.