Department of Health Information Management, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2019 Apr 16;7(4):e11223. doi: 10.2196/11223.
A large number of mobile health (mHealth) apps have been created to help users to manage their health or receive health care services. Many of these mHealth apps have proven to be helpful for maintaining or improving their users' health. However, many people still choose not to use mHealth apps or only use them for a short period. One of the reasons behind this lack of use is the concern for their health information security and privacy.
The goal of this study was to determine the relationship between users' characteristics and their security and privacy concerns and to identify desired security features in mHealth apps, which could reduce these concerns.
A questionnaire was designed and validated by the research team. This questionnaire was then used to determine mobile app users' security and privacy concerns regarding personal health data in mHealth apps as well as the security features most users' desire. A semistructured interview was used to identify barriers to and facilitators of adopting mHealth apps.
In total, 117 randomly selected study participants from a large pool took part in this study and provided responses to the validated questionnaire and the semistructured interview questions. The results indicate that most study participants did have concerns about their privacy when using mHealth apps. They also expressed their preferences regarding several security features in mHealth apps, such as regular password updates, remote wipe, user consent, and access control. An association between their demographic characteristics and their concerns and preferences in security and privacy was identified; however, in most cases, the differences among the different demographic groups were not statistically significant, except for a few very specific aspects. These study participants also indicated that the cost of apps and lack of security features in mHealth apps were barriers for adoption, whereas having free apps, strong but easy-to-use security features, and clear user protection privacy policies might encourage them to use mHealth apps in their health management.
This questionnaire and interview study verified the security and privacy concerns of mHealth app users, identified the desired security and privacy features, and determined specific barriers to and facilitators of users adopting mHealth apps. The results can be used to guide mHealth app developers to create apps that would be welcomed by users.
为帮助用户管理健康或获得医疗服务，已开发出大量移动医疗（mHealth）应用。事实证明，其中许多 mHealth 应用有助于维护或改善用户健康。但仍有许多人选择不使用 mHealth 应用或仅短时间使用。导致这种低使用率的原因之一是对健康信息安全和隐私的担忧。
本研究旨在确定用户特征与其安全和隐私担忧之间的关系，并确定 mHealth 应用中降低这些担忧的所需安全功能。
研究团队设计并验证了一份调查问卷，该问卷用于确定 mHealth 应用中个人健康数据的移动应用用户安全和隐私问题，以及大多数用户希望的安全功能。使用半结构化访谈确定采用 mHealth 应用的障碍和促进因素。
从一个大型研究对象库中随机选择了 117 名研究参与者参与本研究，他们对经过验证的问卷和半结构化访谈问题做出了回应。结果表明，大多数研究参与者在使用 mHealth 应用时确实对隐私问题存在担忧。他们还对 mHealth 应用中的几个安全功能表示了偏好，例如定期密码更新、远程擦除、用户同意和访问控制。确定了他们的人口统计学特征与其安全和隐私方面的担忧和偏好之间的关联；但是，除了一些非常具体的方面外，大多数情况下，不同人口统计学群体之间的差异没有统计学意义。这些研究参与者还表示，应用成本和 mHealth 应用中缺乏安全功能是采用的障碍，而免费应用、强大但易于使用的安全功能以及明确的用户保护隐私政策可能会鼓励他们在健康管理中使用 mHealth 应用。
本问卷调查和访谈研究验证了 mHealth 应用用户的安全和隐私问题，确定了所需的安全和隐私功能，并确定了用户采用 mHealth 应用的具体障碍和促进因素。研究结果可用于指导 mHealth 应用开发者开发出受用户欢迎的应用。
