Development and User Evaluation of a Food-recognition app (FoodRec): Experimental Data and Qualitative Analysis.

Abstract

Background: different studies revealed strong correlation between smoking cessation and a worsening of the diet, whose consequence include loss of appetite, weight loss, etc.

Objective: the objective of FoodRec project is to exploit technology to monitor the dietary habits of people during their smoke quitting process, catching relevant changes which can affect the patient health and the success of the process. This work was an uncontrolled pre-test post-test open pilot study in which an interdisciplinary group created an app for food recognition (FoodRec) to monitor their mood status and dietary habits during the test period.

Methods: participants used the FoodRec App for two consecutive weeks for usability and suitability assessment. Tests included 149 smokers involved in a smoke quitting process, aged between 19 and 80. For the quantitative test, data were analyzed regarding users features, meals uploads, mood states and drink intakes. For the qualitative test, a user evaluation test of the app has been performed with four assignments being carried out on a group of 50 participants.

Results: the App was perceived as extremely user-friendly and lightweight. It also turned out to be useful in the perception of users' dietary habits and helpful in relieving the stress of a food intake reduction process.

Conclusion: this work investigated the role and impact of the FoodRec App in a large international and multicultural context. The experience gained in the current study will be used to modify and refine the large international RCT protocol version of the app.