JMIR mHealth and uHealth
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JMIR mHealth and uHealth · May 2019
ReviewSmartphone Apps to Support Self-Management of Hypertension: Review and Content Analysis.
Hypertension is a widespread chronic disease, and its effective treatment requires self-management by patients. Health-related apps provide an effective way of supporting hypertension self-management. However, the increasing range and variety of hypertension apps available on the market, owing to the global growth in apps, creates the need for patients and health care professionals to be informed about the effectiveness of these apps and the levels of privacy and security that they provide. ⋯ Despite the widespread accessibility and availability of smartphone apps with a range of combinations of functionalities that can support the self-management of hypertension, only a small number of apps are likely to be effective. Many apps lack security measures as well as a clear theoretical basis and do not provide any evidence concerning their effectiveness and usability. This raises a serious issue, as health professionals and those with hypertension have insufficient information to make decisions on which apps are safe and effective.
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JMIR mHealth and uHealth · May 2019
A Mobile Lifestyle Management Program (GlycoLeap) for People With Type 2 Diabetes: Single-Arm Feasibility Study.
Singapore's current prevalence of diabetes exceeds 13.6%. Although lifestyle modification can be effective for reducing the risks for complications of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), traditional lifestyle interventions are often difficult to administer in the primary care setting due to limited resources. Mobile health apps can address these limitations by offering low-cost, adaptable, and accessible platforms for disseminating lifestyle management interventions. ⋯ Although measures of program engagement decreased with time, clinically significant improvements in HbA1c were achieved with the potential for broader implementation. However, we cannot rule out that these improvements were due to factors unrelated to GlycoLeap. Therefore, we would recommend evaluating the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of GlycoLeap using a randomized controlled trial of at least 12 months.
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JMIR mHealth and uHealth · May 2019
Who is Tracking Health on Mobile Devices: Behavioral Logfile Analysis in Hong Kong.
Health apps on mobile devices provide an unprecedented opportunity for ordinary people to develop social connections revolving around health issues. With increasing penetration of mobile devices and well-recorded behavioral data on such devices, it is desirable to employ digital traces on mobile devices rather than self-reported measures to capture the behavioral patterns underlying the use of mobile health (mHealth) apps in a more direct and valid way. ⋯ Our findings suggest the importance of dynamic perspective in understanding users' mHealth app activities. mHealth app developers should consider more the demographic differences in temporal patterns of mHealth apps in the development of mHealth apps. Furthermore, our research also contributes to the promotion of mHealth apps by emphasizing the differences of usage needs for various groups of users.
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JMIR mHealth and uHealth · May 2019
The Use of Smart Devices by Care Providers in Emergency Departments: Cross-Sectional Survey Design.
The use of smart devices (SDs) by health care providers in care settings is a common practice nowadays. Such use includes apps related to patient care and often extends to personal calls and applications with frequent prompts and interruptions. These prompts and interruptions enhance the risk of distractions caused by SDs and raise concerns about service quality and patient safety. Such concerns are exacerbated in complex care settings such as the emergency department (ED). ⋯ The findings of this study make it imperative to ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients, especially in high intensity, high volume departments like the ED. Irrespective of the positive role SDs play in the health care process, the negative effects of their use mandate proper regulation, in particular, an ethical mandate that takes into consideration the significant consequences that the use of SDs may have on care processes and outcomes.
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JMIR mHealth and uHealth · May 2019
Clinicians' Role in the Adoption of an Oncology Decision Support App in Europe and Its Implications for Organizational Practices: Qualitative Case Study.
Despite the existence of adequate technological infrastructure and clearer policies, there are situations where users, mainly physicians, resist mobile health (mHealth) solutions. This is of particular concern, bearing in mind that several studies, both in developed and developing countries, showed that clinicians' adoption is the most influential factor in such solutions' success. ⋯ Several organizational implications emerged, suggesting the need for some actions such as fostering a work culture that embraces new technologies and the creation of new digital roles for clinicians both on the hospitals or clinics and on the development sides but also more collaboration between health care organizations and digital health providers to enable electronic medical record integration and solving of any interoperability issues. From a theoretical perspective, we also suggest the addition of a fourth step to Leonardi's methodological guidance that accounts for user engagement; embedding the users in the continuous design and development processes ensures the understanding of user-specific affordances that can then be made more obvious to other users and increase the potential of such tools to go beyond their technological features and have a higher impact on workflow and the organizing process.