Suitability of the Available Options About Computer Applications to Record the Initial Assessment of the Nutritional Care Process: A Pilot Study in Spanish Software

Abstract

Background: Nutritional software applications are tools for professional care. These applications allow the management of relevant information, facilitating and speeding up the diet treatment, and are designed for a general population with potential nutritional problems. The aim to establish the degree to which existing nutritional software in Spanish covers the nutritional assessment aspects that dietitian needs to manage the nutritional care process (NCP). Methods: A descriptive-comparative study of four open-access and/or trial version nutritional software applications was performed, focusing on the informational content that must be recorded by the dietitian when performing a nutritional assessment. The usability and usefulness of the NCP were analyzed by means of a dichotomous scale (yes/no) and a five-level Likert scale (very complete, complete, basic, poor, very poor). Data collection was carried out from December 2018 to April 2019. Results: The software applications collect personal data in a very intuitive way, and with respect to the nutritional assessment, the applications generally comply with the collection of the basic information necessary for subsequent dietetic planning and are complete in the coinciding items, especially in Dietopro® (Valencia, Spain) and Easydiet® (Navarra, Spain). Conclusion: The applications are generally adapted to the ADA and BDA specifications, though the information is dispersed and without a sequential order for professionals.