Development and evaluation of desktop and web-based applications for nutritional intake monitoring in intensive care units : usability and workflow efficiency

Smrdel, Aleš (author)

Nutrition is an important factor in the recovery of critically ill patients and should be monitored to ensure optimal intake. Different types of applications can be used to assist in monitoring. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and implications on working practice of different types of applications for monitoring the nutrient intake of patients in hospitals. For this purpose, a desktop and a web application for nutrient intake monitoring were developed and deployed in a hospital at different points in time. The desktop application has been in use for a longer period, while the web application is still in the testing phase. A comparative observational study was conducted, in which ICU staff monitored nutrient intakeusing traditional non-assisted methods, the desktop application, and the web application. Task completion times, user satisfaction, and perceived effects on patient outcomes were recorded. Time-on-task data were collected by direct observation, while user feedback was obtained through structured surveys assessingacceptability, usability, and workflow integration. There were 8 respondents for the desktop and three for the web application. Both applications were well received by staff. The most important measurable result was a 25% reduction in task completion time with the desktop application compared to non-assisted monitoring, and an additional 6.6% reduction when using the web application compared to the desktopversion. Users reported no perceived impact on treatment outcomes. Both applications simplified nutrient intake management and proved useful in the ICU context, with the primary benefit being time efficiency rather than changes in patient recovery indicators.

• Language: English
• Keywords: intensive care unit, nutrient intake monitoring, treatment outcome, ehealth, efficiency, usability
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FRI - Faculty of Computer and Information Science
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 189-200
• Numbering: Vol. 49, no. 35
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181346
• UDC: 004.9:004.5:641.1
• ISSN on article: 1854-3871
• DOI: 10.31449/inf.v49i35.4836
• COBISS.SI-ID: 273947139
• Publication date in RUL: 02.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Informatica : an international journal of computing and informatics
• Publisher: Informatika
• ISSN: 1854-3871
• COBISS.SI-ID: 223739648

Licences

• License: CC BY 3.0, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en
• Description: You are free to reproduce and redistribute the material in any medium or format. You are free to remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: enota intenzivne terapije, spremljanje vnosa hranil, izid zdravljenja, e-zdravje, učinkovitost, uporabnost