Formative usability assessment of a new connector design for peritoneal dialysis

BackgroundThis paper presents a first, formative study to explore the usability of a new peritoneal dialysis connector design intended for use by patients. The study was conducted with a user population of both naive users and experienced peritoneal dialysis patients across a range of ages. The goals of the study were to evaluate the usability of the key user interfaces of this connector design by test participants representative of new and experienced peritoneal dialysis patients, as well as to evaluate the use of the connector as it interacts with other components of the peritoneal dialysis system including peritoneal dialysis fluid bags and tubing. Further objectives were to capture any usability issues and obtain participants feedback on the design. MethodsA total of 7 patient and non-patient participants received brief training and performed simulated connection and disconnection of peritoneal catheter extension sets for therapy with the new design. ResultsAll 7 participants completed the simulated connection and disconnection tasks successfully, with only one use error (0.22%), 18 close calls (4.0%), 6 use difficulties (1.3%) observed from the total of 449 use steps performed by all participants. Other findings include usability improvement with repeated use, participants feedback and suggestions for the protective enclosure, a novel feature of the touchless connector design. ConclusionThe studied connector design showed minimal use errors or difficulties and based on participant feedback, the usability can be significantly improved with minimal modifications in future prototypes.