Mobile Health Technology for Monitoring and Managing the Health of People with Lupus (Odapus)

Abstract

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease requiring continuous monitoring for effective management. In Indonesia, approximately 1.7% of the adult population suffers from SLE, facing challenges such as limited access to specialists, high healthcare costs, and geographical barriers. Existing mobile health (mHealth) applications for SLE remain limited in quality, with average scores of only 2.3-2.7 out of 5 on the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). Currently, there is no comprehensively developed and empirically tested mHealth application specifically designed for Indonesian ODAPUS (People with Lupus) that considers the local context. This research employed a prototyping approach involving ODAPUS from the early development stages. Data collection was conducted through two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 10 ODAPUS from Sahabat Cempluk Foundation and a user needs questionnaire involving 22 respondents. The LUFY (Lupus Fighter Diary) application was developed for Android using Kotlin and Firebase Realtime Database, featuring daily health recording, medication reminders, rule-based flare screening, routine check-up reminders, and SLE educational content. Usability evaluation was conducted using the System Usability Scale (SUS) with 10 respondents. Research results demonstrate successful development of the LUFY application with five main features aligned with ODAPUS needs. The rule-based flare screening algorithm analyzes symptom combinations through five hierarchical priority levels. Usability evaluation yielded an average SUS score of 88.75 out of 100 ("Excellent" category), significantly exceeding the digital health application benchmark of 68 (SD 12.5). High scores were obtained in ease of use (96% agreed, scale 4-5), low complexity (87% disagreed with complexity, scale 1-2), good feature integration (96% agreed), and high consistency (86% disagreed with inconsistency). These results indicate that the participatory approach successfully produced a user-friendly application meeting Indonesian ODAPUS needs.