Table 4 Potential user groups

Eligibility

“But I think one conclusion is definitely that the very majority of patients—I believe about at least nine out of ten patients get along very well with these devices and the blood collection is possible without any problems.” (HCP 1: 18:07)

“But especially with older patients who live in the countryside or are no longer so physically mobile, or as is the case now in immunology, with the patients who only go for blood tests every three months, it would be ideal.” (Patient 2, Systemic sclerosis, TAP II: 20:52)

Limitations of blood self-sampling

“So pressing until it clicks, well, it depends on how much strength you have in your finger or whether you have functional problems or something, then it's a bit difficult to press.” (Patient 11, Systemic lupus erythematosus, TAP II: 03:38)

“The only thing with me- I do take blood thinners. Maybe it's different for someone else who doesn't take blood thinners. (…) I would have to squeeze it off somehow.” (Patient 3, Systemic lupus erythematosus, TAP II: 05:38)

Age as an indication

“For us as older people it is not interesting and for younger people it certainly will be. At some point… the doctors' offices will become fewer and fewer, in the countryside anyway. (…) And for older people, that's already a problem. And then, if you have your family doctor still nearby, you're used to that contact.” (Patient 10, Sjögren's syndrome, TAP II: 03:04)

“So it's just a little bit limited, I think, and it's probably not for very old people who are maybe already very entrenched in their routines and for whom going to the family doctor is the most normal thing in the world. And they don't want to miss it. It probably wouldn't be appropriate for them.” (HCP 1: 12:53)

“Of course, rather younger people—They get along with it better… But that's not 100% true, because I also had a few participants, who worked in the lab themselves in some way, and with them it went smoothly. I didn't have to explain anything to them. They looked at it once and then they did it in a blink of an eye and it was done, and I could hardly keep up with the documentation, but they did everything right. So clearly, if someone is already working in the medical-technical laboratory area by nature, they had no problems with it at all. And others, where I thought, okay, I would have thought that they could easily do it, they somehow had a bit of a hard time.” (HCP 4: 07:55)