Evaluation of the usability and usefulness of the vocal'iz mobile application in a population of teachers.

BACKGROUND: Although mobile health (mHealth) tools for vocal health are increasingly used, their scientific evaluation remains limited. OBJECTIVES: To assess the perceived usability and usefulness of the Vocal'iz mobile application among teachers. To examine the relationships between these outcomes and individual factors such as age, Voice Handicap Index (VHI-30), health literacy, and digital literacy. METHOD: Thirty teachers participated in the three phases of our study: (1) completion of a personal data questionnaire, the VHI-30, the Health Literacy Scale, and the Digital Literacy Scale; (2) 10 days of independent use of the application; and (3) completion of the System Usability Scale (SUS) and section F of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) to assess the app's usability and perceived usefulness. A one-sample t-test compared the participants' SUS score to the reference value of 70. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test compared the MARS section F score to the reference value of 3. Correlation tests were conducted between the SUS and MARS scores and the individual factors. RESULTS: The mean SUS score (76.67, SD = 11.55) and the mean score for MARS section F (4.03, SD = 0.74) were both significantly higher than the reference values, with medium to large effect sizes. There were no significant correlations between usability or usefulness and the individual factors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that teachers rated the Vocal'iz app highly, demonstrating its good usability and positive perceived usefulness. The app's potential as a preventive tool warrants further evaluation in more diverse and larger populations, as well as an assessment of its effectiveness.