Development and usability evaluation of a family role-focused recommendation system for young breast cancer patients †
Abstract
Objective
To develop and evaluate the usability of the family role-focused recommendation system (FRFRS) for young women with breast cancer. Young breast cancer patients face dynamic and multifaceted family role problems throughout their illness trajectory, leading to significant psychosocial distress. Recommendation systems hold significant potential for delivering personalized, comprehensive, and dynamically adaptive support resources effectively.
Methods
This study was conducted in 2 phases, including system development and usability evaluation. In the first phase, we developed the FRFRS based on a resource repository. In the second phase, 25 participants were recruited to use the FRFRS for 4 weeks. Usability was evaluated using the System Usability Scale (SUS), supplemented by semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants.
Results
The FRFRS was successfully developed, comprising an Android client application for personalized patient support and a web-based administrative backend for systematic management. Of the 25 participants recruited, 21 (84%) completed the 4-week trial and the subsequent SUS assessment. The mean overall SUS score for the FRFRS was 79.29, falling within the “Good” (Grade B) usability rating. Qualitative analysis indicated that users perceived the system as useful and easy to use, and expressed a willingness to continue using it. However, participants reported limitations in content specificity and challenges with content comprehension and presentation.
Conclusions
This study successfully developed the FRFRS and demonstrated its good initial usability among young breast cancer patients. Further research is needed to refine system content and presentation and to evaluate the effectiveness of the FRFRS in improving psychosocial outcomes and addressing family role problems.
© 2026 Meng-Jiao Xu, Xiao-Xu Li, Lin-Ping Zhang, Dan Wang, Xian Zhang, Mi Zhao, Su-Ting Zhang, Ting Luo, Jing Han, published by Shanxi Medical Periodical Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.