| Sumario: | Purpose The number of aging populations is continuously growing and the increasing need for systematic health care for the elderly living alone and urban poor in small-areas calls for community-wise action for health disparity reduction. In Korea, despite the efforts to facilitate community-based health care, there is limited number of valid and reliable self-checkup tools for assessing health and function of community older adults. Hence, it is necessary to apply comprehensive information system to promote collecting and processing assessment data to facilitate self-care and elevate the quality of care. The interRAI Check-Up Self-Report Korean version (interRAI CUSR-K) is a self-check-up tool for about comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), which involves a holistic, multidisciplinary evaluation of health and function of the Korean older adults in community setting. We designed and developed the HWePS project app, which is a non-profit, prototype, self-check app to provide contactless, self-report based CGA under social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic. In this context, our study introduces a process of development, application, and validation of the interRAI CUSR-K using the HWePS project app in the community setting. Method We reviewed existing literatures, gathered advices from experts, and conducted multidisciplinary research team meeting to carry out design and development of the app. To verify the reliability and validity of the instrument, we recruited eight lay health leaders (volunteers) from an urban small-area and provided education and training to help the community older adults in self-assessment of health and function using mobile app via interview method. A total of 168 seniors did the self-checkup with volunteers' assistance and the psychometrics properties of the results are examined. SAS 9.4 was used for statistical analysis. Results and Discussion Based on the information collected, the software was programmed in the Hybrid Web development using Java languages. The average age of the participants (n=168) was 74.4 years-old and the overall self-assessment took about 25 minutes. The participants responded that the assessment results were fairly accurate and presented their health in general, and the questionnaire were easy to comprehend. Overall mean score of weighted kappa (test-retest, inter-rater evaluation) were ranged between 0.7-0.9, confirming the reliability of the instrument of about 90 items. The study demonstrates application and psychometric properties of a evidence-based, self-reported, internationally reliable geriatric assessment tool using mobile app under community setting. The results of the study would propose implications for future technology-supported community health interventions and m-health applications as a decision support tool to improve quality of care.
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