Development, Validation, and Usability Evaluation of an Application for Health Education in Individuals With Cardiometabolic Diseases

Mobile applications are effective tools for health education in cardiometabolic diseases, enhancing patient's self-care, self-management, self-efficacy, and treatment adherence. This study describes the development, validation, and evaluation of the usability of a mobile application aimed at health education of individuals with cardiometabolic diseases. This is a methodological study developed using the theoretical-methodological framework of Systematic Instructional Design. The validity of the educational technology was assessed using the content validity index, with a threshold of 80% or higher. The application's usability was evaluated through the System Usability Scale. The Viva+ application was developed using Flutter, with Dart programming language and Firebase database. It comprises 49 screens and features functionalities such as registration, login, usage instructions, quizzes, note-taking, and health guidance pages covering topics such as contextualization of cardiometabolic diseases, risk factors, healthy eating, physical activity, weight control, medication management, treatment adherence, smoking and alcohol consumption, sleep improvement, stress management, and professional follow-up. The application was deemed valid by experts, achieving a global validity index of 0.99. Regarding usability, it obtained a total score of 78.07, being considered excellent. The application was shown to be a valid, suitable, comprehensive, and relevant technology for the education and health promotion of individuals with cardiometabolic diseases.