Table 5.
Secondary outcomes: surrogate perceptions on tool usability and acceptability before family meetings
| No. | Question about the Family Support Tool SUS | Family Meeting 1 |
Family Meeting 2 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean* (SD) | Median (IQR) | Min–Max | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) | Min–Max | ||
| Systems usability scale
†
|
N = 23 |
N = 7 |
|||||
| 1 | I think that I would like to use this program if I had a loved one in the ICU. | 1.5 (0.7) | 1 (1–2) | 1–3 | 1.4 (0.5) | 1 (1–2) | 1–2 |
| 2 | I thought the program was too complex. | 4.1 (0.6) | 4 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.1 (0.4) | 4 (4–4) | 4–5 |
| 3 | I thought the program was easy to use. | 1.4 (0.7) | 1 (1–2) | 1–4 | 1.9 (0.4) | 2 (2–2) | 1–2 |
| 4 | I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use the program. | 4.1 (0.9) | 4 (4–5) | 1–5 | 4.0 (1.0) | 4 (4–5) | 2–5 |
| 5 | I found the information and questions in the program were well integrated. | 1.7 (1.0) | 1 (1–2) | 1–5 | 1.9 (0.7) | 2 (1–2) | 1–3 |
| 6 | I thought there was too much inconsistency in the program. | 4.2 (0.7) | 4 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.0 (0.6) | 4 (4–4) | 3–5 |
| 7 | I would imagine that most people would learn to use this program very quickly. | 1.6 (0.6) | 2 (1–2) | 1–3 | 2.0 (0.0) | 2 (2–2) | 2–2 |
| 8 | I found the program very cumbersome to use. | 4.2 (0.9) | 4 (4–5) | 2–5 | 3.9 (0.9) | 4 (4–4) | 2–5 |
| 9 | I felt very confident using the program. | 1.7 (0.8) | 2 (1–2) | 1–3 | 1.9 (0.7) | 2 (1–2) | 1–3 |
| 10 | I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this program. | 4.2 (1.0) | 4 (4–5) | 1–5 | 4.3 (0.5) | 4 (4–5) | 4–5 |
| Overall, I would rate the user-friendliness of this product as... | 4.0 (0.8) | 4 (4–5) | 2–5 | 3.7 (0.8) | 4 (3–4) | 3–5 | |
| SUS summary score | |
||||||
| Overall SUS score ‡ | 82.4 (13.4) | 85 (72.5–95) | 45–100 | 78.2 (10.1) | 72.5 (70–82.5) | 70–97.5 | |
| Acceptability scale (“How acceptable was it...”)
§
|
N = 23 |
N = 7 |
|||||
| 1 | Overall, how acceptable did you find the Family Support Tool? | 4.5 (0.9) | 5 (4–5) | 1–5 | 4.4 (0.5) | 4 (4–5) | 4–5 |
| 2 | To enter questions you had for the doctor into the tool? | 4.5 (0.6) | 5 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.3 (0.8) | 4 (4–5) | 3–5 |
| 3 | To ask you to record your thoughts about your loved one’s prognosis? | 3.9 (0.9) | 4 (3–5) | 1–5 | 4.0 (0.8) | 4 (3–5) | 3–5 |
| 4 | To hear tips from other families about how to talk to the doctors? | 4.4 (0.7) | 4 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.0 (0.8) | 4 (3–5) | 3–5 |
| 5 | To hear about the different pathways of care that may be appropriate for your loved one? | 4.5 (0.7) | 5 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.6 (0.5) | 5 (4–5) | 4–5 |
| 6 | To hear stories about how other families made decisions? | 4.6 (0.6) | 5 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.4 (0.5) | 4 (4–5) | 4–5 |
| 7 | To answer questions to help you think about your loved one’s values? | 4.3 (0.6) | 4 (4–5) | 3–5 | 4.3 (0.5) | 4 (4–5) | 4–5 |
Definition of abbreviations: ICU = intensive care unit; IQR = interquartile range; Max = maximum; Min = minimum; SD = standard deviation; SUS = System Usability Scale.
SUS items 1–10 were scored from 1 to 5, in which 1 = “strongly agree” and 5 = “strongly disagree.” The overall user-friendliness item was scored from 0 to 5, in which 0 = “worst imaginable” and 5 = “best imaginable.”
Patients who died upon enrollment did not receive questionnaires; patients who were transferred before the family meeting did complete usability and accessibility questionnaires.
Overall SUS score was calculated using SUS items 1–10; the scale is 0–100.
Acceptability items 1–7 were scored from 1 to 5, in which 1 = “very unacceptable” and 5 = “very acceptable.”