A User Preference Analysis Of Commercial Breath Ketone Sensors to Inform the Development of Portable Breath Ketone Sensors for Diabetes Management in Young People

Background. Portable breath ketone sensors may help people with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) avoid episodes of diabetic ketoacidosis; however, the design features preferred by users have not been studied. We aimed to elucidate breath analysis and design preferences associated with commercial breath ketone devices among young people with T1DM aged 12-16 years and their parents in order to inform the development of a breath ketone sensor prototype for diabetes management in young people.
Research Designs and Methods. Two commercially available breath ketone sensors, designed for ketogenic diet monitoring, were explored over one week by ten young people with T1DM. Participants interacted with the devices at least twice daily for five days to simulate a real-life usage of the breath devices in addition to blood testing devices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted post-testing with the young participants and their caregivers to elicit preferences related to breath analysis and to inform the co-design of a diabetes breath ketone sensor prototype. To validate the results from a professional healthcare perspective, we interviewed two diabetes educators working in paediatric care about their perspective of young people using breath ketone sensors.

研究背景：便携式呼吸酮传感器可帮助1型糖尿病（Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, T1DM）患者避免糖尿病酮症酸中毒发作，但目前尚未明确用户偏好的设计特征。本研究旨在阐明12-16岁1型糖尿病青少年及其家长对商用呼吸酮设备的呼吸分析与设计偏好，为面向青少年糖尿病管理的呼吸酮传感器原型开发提供参考依据。
研究设计与方法：本研究选取两款用于生酮饮食监测的商用呼吸酮传感器，招募10名1型糖尿病青少年开展为期一周的试用。受试者每日至少与设备交互两次，持续五天，以模拟呼吸设备与血糖检测设备的真实使用场景。测试结束后，对青少年受试者及其照护者开展半结构化访谈，以收集其关于呼吸分析的偏好信息，并为糖尿病呼吸酮传感器原型的协同设计提供参考。为从专业医疗保健视角验证研究结果，本研究还访谈了两名从事儿科糖尿病护理的糖尿病教育者，了解其对青少年使用呼吸酮传感器的看法。