Medication reconciliation, the process of documenting a patient's medication, is currently a time-consuming and labor-intensive process. To make medication reconciliation more efficient, digital assistants (DAs) offer a promising solution. Especially since human-like digital interfaces tend to be appreciated by more vulnerable populations such as patients in a low socioeconomic position (SEP). Despite the potential of DAs for low-SEP populations in particular, these groups are often not involved during the development and design phase of such digital health interventions. This exclusion may explain the lower adoption rates of digital interventions among low-SEP patients and exacerbate the so-called digital divide. We explored the perceptions and needs of patients across the SEP gradient using a participatory design approach. Patients of low-, middle-, and high-SEP backgrounds were asked to interact with a DA developed for this study and were interviewed afterward. A thematic analysis revealed seven themes regarding design, input method, comprehensibility, privacy concerns, benefits, the intention to use, and reassurance. Overall, patients were afraid to make mistakes in their medication entries and therefore valued feedback from the system or caregivers. Low-SEP patients specifically seemed to value more structured input methods when using the DA, while high-SEP patients emphasized the importance of a secure environment for the DA and sought clarity about its functionalities. Our study demonstrates the importance of involving patients across the socioeconomic gradient when developing a digital health tool and offers concrete recommendations for inclusive DA design for researchers and developers.

中文翻译：

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患者对药物调节数字助手的看法：一项比较社会经济群体的访谈研究。


药物核对，即记录患者用药的过程，目前是一个耗时且劳动密集型的过程。为了提高药物核对效率，数字助理 （DA） 提供了一个很有前途的解决方案。特别是因为类似人类的数字界面往往受到更弱势群体的赞赏，例如社会经济地位 （SEP） 较低的患者。尽管 DA 尤其适用于低 SEP 人群的潜力，但这些群体通常不会参与此类数字健康干预措施的开发和设计阶段。这种排除可能解释了低 SEP 患者对数字干预的采用率较低，并加剧了所谓的数字鸿沟。我们使用参与式设计方法探讨了 SEP 梯度中患者的看法和需求。低、中和高 SEP 背景的患者被要求与为本研究开发的 DA 互动，并在之后接受访谈。主题分析揭示了关于设计、输入法、可理解性、隐私问题、好处、使用意图和保证的七个主题。总体而言，患者害怕在他们的药物输入中出错，因此重视系统或护理人员的反馈。低 SEP 患者在使用 DA 时似乎特别重视更结构化的输入方法，而高 SEP 患者则强调安全环境对 DA 的重要性，并寻求明确其功能。我们的研究证明了在开发数字健康工具时让患者参与整个社会经济梯度的重要性，并为研究人员和开发人员提供了包容性 DA 设计的具体建议。