Interdisciplinary Research Team on Internet and Society, Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Dec 16;10(12):e40340. doi: 10.2196/40340.
BACKGROUND: Knowledge of the characteristics of adolescents who use mobile health (mHealth) apps to monitor health and how these characteristics differ from those of app nonusers is limited. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine mHealth app use based on adolescent and parental factors, including sociodemographics, digital skills, and health indicators, in a nationally representative sample of Czech adolescents (N=2500). METHODS: Adolescents aged 11 to 16 years and one of their parents participated in an online survey in 2021. A professional research agency recruited the participants. Quotas were used to ensure the sample's representativeness. The sociodemographic factors were the adolescents' age, gender, and parental perceived financial security. The adolescents also provided information about their screen time, eHealth literacy, BMI, health anxiety, physical activity, and sleep quality. Parents reported their digital skills, mobile phone attitudes, and the mediation of their children's online health information-seeking behaviors. We evaluated the differences between the users and nonusers of mHealth apps and identified the significant predictors of mHealth app use. Next, we separately examined how these factors were associated with the use of mHealth apps that track calorie intake or expenditure, number of steps, weight, or sports activity (eg, exercise, running, and working out), as well as other mHealth apps (eg, those that track sleep and heart rate). RESULTS: More than half of the adolescents (1429/2455, 58.21%) reported using mHealth apps. App users were relatively older and, more often, girls. Apps that counted the number of steps were used most frequently, and adolescents whose parents reported higher perceived financial security used them more regularly. Overall, being older and physically active and having higher eHealth literacy skills were associated with using mHealth apps. Adolescents with higher BMI, health anxiety, and lower sleep quality more frequently used mHealth apps to track calorie intake or expenditure, weight, and health indicators. mHealth apps to track physical activity were used more regularly by girls. There was a positive association between parental mediation of online health information-seeking behaviors and adolescents' mHealth app use. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that older age, physical activity, and eHealth literacy skills were the common underlying factors of adolescents' mHealth app use. We initially showed parents as significant role models for their children's adoption of, and engagement with, mHealth apps when they actively mediate their online health information-seeking behaviors. Improving the eHealth literacy skills of adolescents through parental guidance might enhance health technology use in this population. Tracking eating behaviors, weight, and health were more prevalent for adolescents who reported higher BMI, health anxiety, and lower sleep quality. Future research studies should examine the determinants and health outcomes of adolescents' mHealth app use longitudinally.
背景:青少年使用移动健康 (mHealth) 应用程序来监测健康的特征及其与非使用者的差异的知识有限。
目的:我们旨在根据青少年和家长的因素确定 mHealth 应用程序的使用情况,这些因素包括社会人口统计学、数字技能和健康指标,我们在捷克全国代表性青少年样本(N=2500)中进行了研究。
方法:2021 年,年龄在 11 至 16 岁的青少年及其家长之一参加了在线调查。一家专业研究机构招募了参与者。使用配额来确保样本的代表性。社会人口统计学因素包括青少年的年龄、性别和父母感知的经济安全性。青少年还提供了有关其屏幕时间、电子健康素养、BMI、健康焦虑、身体活动和睡眠质量的信息。父母报告了他们的数字技能、手机态度以及对孩子在线健康信息搜索行为的调解。我们评估了 mHealth 应用程序使用者和非使用者之间的差异,并确定了 mHealth 应用程序使用的显著预测因素。接下来,我们分别研究了这些因素如何与跟踪卡路里摄入或支出、步数、体重或运动活动(例如锻炼、跑步和锻炼)以及其他 mHealth 应用程序(例如,跟踪睡眠和心率的应用程序)的 mHealth 应用程序的使用相关。
结果:超过一半的青少年(1429/2455,58.21%)报告使用 mHealth 应用程序。用户相对年龄较大,并且更常是女孩。记录步数的应用程序最常被使用,父母报告的感知经济安全性较高的青少年更经常使用它们。总体而言,年龄较大、身体活跃和具有较高的电子健康素养技能与使用 mHealth 应用程序相关。BMI 较高、健康焦虑和睡眠质量较低的青少年更频繁地使用 mHealth 应用程序来跟踪卡路里摄入或支出、体重和健康指标。女孩更经常使用跟踪身体活动的 mHealth 应用程序。父母对孩子在线健康信息搜索行为的积极调解与青少年使用 mHealth 应用程序之间存在正相关关系。
结论:这些发现表明,年龄较大、身体活动和电子健康素养技能是青少年使用 mHealth 应用程序的共同潜在因素。我们最初表明,父母作为青少年采用和参与 mHealth 应用程序的重要榜样,当他们积极调解其在线健康信息搜索行为时。通过父母指导提高青少年的电子健康素养技能可能会增强该人群对健康技术的使用。报告 BMI 较高、健康焦虑和睡眠质量较低的青少年更频繁地使用 mHealth 应用程序来跟踪饮食行为、体重和健康。未来的研究应纵向研究青少年使用 mHealth 应用程序的决定因素和健康结果。
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