Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale: Psychometric Evaluation

Jisan Lee; Rebecca Schnall

doi:10.2196/28621

Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale: Psychometric Evaluation

JMIR Med Inform. 2022 Jan 24;10(1):e28621. doi: 10.2196/28621.

Authors

Jisan Lee^{1

2}, Rebecca Schnall^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing Science, College of Life & Health Sciences, Hoseo University, Asan, Republic of Korea.
² The Research Institute for Basic Sciences, Hoseo University, Asan, Republic of Korea.
³ School of Nursing, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
⁴ Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.

PMID: 35072630
PMCID: PMC8822430
DOI: 10.2196/28621

Abstract

Background: Rigorous development of mobile technologies requires the use of validated instruments to evaluate the usability of these tools, which has become more relevant with the expansion of these technologies. Although various usability evaluation tools have been developed, there are relatively few simple evaluation instruments that have been validated across diseases and languages in mobile health (mHealth) information technology for use in multiple diseases.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to validate the Korean version of the Health Information Technology Usability Evaluation Scale (Korean Health-ITUES) and assess its applicability for different health conditions.

Methods: To develop the Korean Health-ITUES, we used a validation process involving the following 3 steps: (1) customization of the Health-ITUES for menstrual symptoms, (2) translation of the Health-ITUES from English into Korean, and (3) examination of the reliability and validity of the instrument. The translation process adhered to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for translation and back-translation, expert review, and reconciliation.

Results: The Korean Health-ITUES showed reliable internal consistency with Cronbach α=.951; meanwhile, factor loadings of the 20 items in the 4 subscales ranged from 0.416 to 0.892.

Conclusions: The Health-ITUES demonstrated reliability and validity for its use in assessing mHealth apps' usability in young Korean women with menstrual discomfort. Given the strong psychometric properties of this tool in Korean and English and across 2 different health conditions, the Health-ITUES is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the usability of mHealth apps. The Health-ITUES is also a valid instrument for evaluating mHealth technologies, which are widely used by patients to self-manage their health and by providers to improve health care delivery.

Keywords: app; assessment; evaluation; mHealth; medical informatics; menstruation; mobile application; questionnaire; reliability; survey; translations; usability; validity.

Grants and funding

K24 NR018621/NR/NINR NIH HHS/United States