The development of an augmented reality application for exercise prescription within paediatric oncology: App design and protocol of a pilot study.

Background: Children and young people with cancer face barriers when engaging with exercise, such as treatment-related side effects, psychosocial burdens and lack of individualised provisions. Digital health tools, such as smartphone applications, have emerged as a promising driver to support healthcare provisions in exercise prescription among patients. It is vital to explore how such technologies can be developed more effectively in order to strengthen the evidence supporting their use and for more appropriate implementation within healthcare. This study aims to explore user experiences, preferences and suggested improvements from healthy children and young people aged 9-21 years. Methods: An augmented reality (AR) application was specifically developed for children and young people aged 9-21 years undergoing cancer treatment and a protocol for a pilot study was designed. The target sample of this pilot study is 90 healthy children and young people aged 9-21 years. Practical 30-min workshops will be conducted encouraging participants to engage with the smartphone app. Focus groups will explore participant experiences, preferences, and suggested improvements. Data will be analysed deductively with apriori themes derived from the semi-structured interviews. Discussion: Obtaining user experiences, preferences and suggested improvements is especially important for the development of novel apps, such as those prescribing exercise and using algorithms and augmented reality software. Results from this study will directly influence the development of an augmented reality application, which will also be applied within a long-term trial in paediatric oncology.