Persuasive Design Principles for a Medication Adherence App for Chronic Arthritis Conditions

Nonadherence to medications is a significant challenge for individuals with chronic arthritis, potentially resulting in serious health problems. Recently, the advent of mobile health apps (mHealth apps) has been promising for empowering users and facilitating health behaviour change. To motivate arthritis patients to take prescribed medications on time, the incorporation of persuasive system design (PSD) features can be beneficial. Thus, there is a need to use the PSD model in arthritis mHealth apps. This study aims to map design requirements to PSD principles to motivate arthritis patients to engage in medication management activities. Individual interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to identify design requirements from the perspectives of both arthritis patients (ATPs) and healthcare providers (HCPs). Seven distinct categories of design requirements emerged from the analysis, which includes medication management, self-monitoring, health education, motivational, integration capabilities, as well as considerations for app usability and accessibility. The significance and relevancy of these requirements in supporting adherence behaviour for Saudi arthritis patients were thoroughly discussed.