A Mobile Application Platform to Increase Physical Activity in Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic

INTRODUCTION: Mobile health applications for individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) have the potential to improve physical activity (PA) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; yet, there is a need to identify the content of a mobile application (app) in the light of conceptual framework and the delivery features to increase the usability of the app. The aim of this study is to improve the mobile application based on a framework that conceptually determines the needs of individuals with T2DM. At the same time, it is to determine the presentation features of the application to increase its usability for individuals and health professionals using it.
METHODS: The content and delivery features of a PA app were determined using the Delphi method considering the diabetes core sets of the international classification of the functioning framework, including experts in the area of T2DM for the app's content and heterogeneous participants for the delivery features of the app. A mobile application was created according to the data obtained by this method after the application was created by this way.
RESULTS: Delphi experts suggested 64 ideas for the content of the app, of which 46 reached sufficient agreement (72.5–100%). In the second step, participants generated 27 ideas, yet, the consensus was reached on 12 delivery features (70–100%). The application was created by transforming these ideas into app content.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study addressed the content-related limitations and usability challenges in the pre-existing studies. During the lockdown, the developed PA app can be implemented using different mobile devices.