Hach, SylviaAlder, GemmaStavric, VernaTaylor, DeniseSignal, Nada2024-10-182024-10-182024-10-04JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, ISSN: 2291-5222 (Print); 2291-5222 (Online), JMIR Publications Inc., 12, e49449-. doi: 10.2196/494492291-52222291-5222http://hdl.handle.net/10292/18144BACKGROUND: Usability has been touted as one determiner of success of mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Multiple systematic reviews of usability assessment approaches for different mHealth solutions for physical rehabilitation are available. However, there is a lack of synthesis in this portion of the literature, which results in clinicians and developers devoting a significant amount of time and effort in analyzing and summarizing a large body of systematic reviews. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to summarize systematic reviews examining usability assessment instruments, or measurements tools, in mHealth interventions including physical rehabilitation. METHODS: An umbrella review was conducted according to a published registered protocol. A topic-based search of PubMed, Cochrane, IEEE Xplore, Epistemonikos, Web of Science, and CINAHL Complete was conducted from January 2015 to April 2023 for systematic reviews investigating usability assessment instruments in mHealth interventions including physical exercise rehabilitation. Eligibility screening included date, language, participant, and article type. Data extraction and assessment of the methodological quality (AMSTAR 2 [A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2]) was completed and tabulated for synthesis. RESULTS: A total of 12 systematic reviews were included, of which 3 (25%) did not refer to any theoretical usability framework and the remaining (n=9, 75%) most commonly referenced the ISO framework. The sample referenced a total of 32 usability assessment instruments and 66 custom-made, as well as hybrid, instruments. Information on psychometric properties was included for 9 (28%) instruments with satisfactory internal consistency and structural validity. A lack of reliability, responsiveness, and cross-cultural validity data was found. The methodological quality of the systematic reviews was limited, with 8 (67%) studies displaying 2 or more critical weaknesses. CONCLUSIONS: There is significant diversity in the usability assessment of mHealth for rehabilitation, and a link to theoretical models is often lacking. There is widespread use of custom-made instruments, and preexisting instruments often do not display sufficient psychometric strength. As a result, existing mHealth usability evaluations are difficult to compare. It is proposed that multimethod usability assessment is used and that, in the selection of usability assessment instruments, there is a focus on explicit reference to their theoretical underpinning and acceptable psychometric properties. This could be facilitated by a closer collaboration between researchers, developers, and clinicians throughout the phases of mHealth tool development. TRIAL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42022338785; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#recordDetails.©Sylvia Hach, Gemma Alder, Verna Stavric, Denise Taylor, Nada Signal. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 04.10.2024. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/mobile healthoverviewphysical exercisepsychometricsquality evaluationrehabilitationumbrella reviewusability4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health SciencesRehabilitationPhysical Rehabilitation3 Good Health and Well Being1117 Public Health and Health Services4203 Health services and systems4206 Public health4601 Applied computingHumansMobile ApplicationsTelemedicineJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.2196/49449