Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic digestive disease that has a detrimental effect on the quality of life of IBD patients. This study aims to identify the informational needs and design the essential informational needs for a smartphone application for the self-management of IBD. METHODS: This study was conducted in two stages and the informational needs of the patients were extracted in a questionnaire designed in three separate sections and given to 120 patients with UC and 60 patients with CD. RESULTS: After a literature review and analysis of patient responses, it was found that Knowledge of the disease, Medication, Educational information, Complications, Diet & Nutrition, and Lifestyle habits are among the most important domains of informational needs of inflammatory bowel disease patients. CONCLUSION: Patients with IBD have many informational needs, and in this study, identifying these needs, can help improve the quality of life of these patients and be of interest to healthcare providers, designers, and developers of applications.