Department of Internal Medicine, Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2016 Apr 19;4(2):e41. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.4928.
There is significant potential for mobile health technology to improve health outcomes for patients with chronic diseases. However, there is a need for further development of mobile health technology that would help to improve the health of lower-income communities.
The study objective was to assess mobile phone and app usage among a culturally diverse patient population, and to determine whether patients would be interested in using mobile health technology to help manage their chronic diseases.
An observational study was conducted with patients of the Internal Medicine resident primary care clinics of Los Angeles County and University of Southern California (LAC+USC) Medical Center. Self-reported information regarding demographics, current mobile phone usage, current mobile health app and social media usage, barriers to using mobile phones or mobile health apps, and interest in using a mobile health app was collected.
Ninety-one percent of patients owned a mobile phone, with 76% (169/223) of these reporting having a mobile phone with Internet capability. Fifty-seven percent of subjects used mobile apps on their mobile phones, and 32% (41/130) of these used mobile apps related to their health. Eighty-six percent (207/241) of respondents voiced interest in using a mobile app to improve their health, and 40% (88/221) stated they would use such an app daily. Patients stated they would find the mobile health app most useful for nutrition, exercise, and obtaining general information on medical conditions.
Despite the fact that the majority of our primary care patients were of lower socioeconomic status, they utilized mobile phones with Internet and mobile app capabilities to a great extent. There was substantial interest among our patients in using mobile health technology to both manage chronic disease and improve overall health. Given that cultural, educational, and socioeconomic disparities strongly correlate with higher rates of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, access to culturally relevant mobile health tools may empower patients in these populations to improve health outcomes.
移动医疗技术在改善慢性病患者的健康结果方面具有巨大潜力。然而，需要进一步开发移动医疗技术，以帮助改善低收入社区的健康状况。
本研究旨在评估不同文化背景的患者对手机和应用程序的使用情况，并确定患者是否有兴趣使用移动医疗技术来帮助管理其慢性病。
对洛杉矶县和南加州大学（LAC+USC）医疗中心内科住院医师初级保健诊所的患者进行了一项观察性研究。收集了有关人口统计学、当前手机使用情况、当前移动健康应用程序和社交媒体使用情况、使用手机或移动健康应用程序的障碍以及使用移动健康应用程序的兴趣等方面的自我报告信息。
91%的患者拥有手机，其中 76%（169/223）的患者报告其手机具有上网功能。57%的患者在手机上使用应用程序，其中 32%（41/130）的患者使用与健康相关的应用程序。86%（207/241）的受访者表示有兴趣使用移动应用程序来改善健康状况，40%（88/221）的受访者表示他们将每天使用此类应用程序。患者表示，他们将发现移动健康应用程序在营养、锻炼和获取医学条件的一般信息方面最有用。
尽管我们的大多数初级保健患者都处于较低的社会经济地位，但他们在很大程度上使用了具有互联网和移动应用程序功能的手机。我们的患者对使用移动医疗技术来管理慢性病和改善整体健康状况有着浓厚的兴趣。鉴于文化、教育和社会经济方面的差异与肥胖、糖尿病和高血压等慢性病的高发率密切相关，为这些人群提供文化相关的移动医疗工具可能会增强他们改善健康结果的能力。
