Flo Health LTU, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Flo Health UK Limited, London, United Kingdom.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2023 Apr 26;11:e40427. doi: 10.2196/40427.
Research shows that poor knowledge and awareness of menstrual and pregnancy health among women are associated with adverse reproductive health and pregnancy outcomes. Menstrual cycle- and pregnancy-tracking mobile apps are promising tools for improving women's awareness of and attitudes toward their reproductive health; however, there is little information about subscribers' perceptions of app functionality and its impact on their knowledge and health.
This study aimed to explore knowledge and health improvements related to menstrual cycle and pregnancy, as well as improvements in general health among Flo app users. We also investigated what components of the Flo app were associated with the abovementioned improvements and evaluated whether those improvements differed based on education level, country of residence (low- and middle-income vs high-income countries), free or premium subscription to the app, short- or long-term use of the app, and frequency of use.
Flo subscribers who had been using the app for no less than 30 days, completed a web-based survey. A total of 2212 complete survey responses were collected. The survey included demographic questions and questions about motivations guiding the use of the Flo app and which components of the app improved their knowledge and health, as well as to what extent.
Most study participants reported improvements in menstrual cycle (1292/1452, 88.98%) and pregnancy (698/824, 84.7%) knowledge from Flo app use. Participants with higher levels of education and those from high-income countries reported using the app predominantly for getting pregnant (χ=4.2, P=.04; χ=52.3, P<.001, respectively) and pregnancy tracking (χ=19.3, P<.001; χ=20.9, P=.001, respectively). Participants with less education reported using the app to avoid pregnancy (χ=4.2; P=.04) and to learn more about their body (χ=10.8; P=.001) and sexual health (χ=6.3; P=.01), while participants from low- and middle-income countries intended to mainly learn more about their sexual health (χ=18.2; P<.001). Importantly, the intended use of the app across education levels and country income levels matched areas in which they had gained knowledge and achieved their health goals upon use of the Flo app. Period, fertile days, and ovulation predictions as well as symptom tracking were consistently the top 3 components in the app that helped users with their cycle knowledge and general health. Reading articles or watching videos helped with users' education regarding their pregnancy. Finally, the strongest improvements in knowledge and health were observed in premium, frequent, and long-term users.
This study suggests that menstrual health apps, such as Flo, could present revolutionary tools to promote consumer health education and empowerment on a global scale.
研究表明，女性对月经和妊娠健康的知识和意识较差与不良生殖健康和妊娠结局有关。跟踪月经周期和妊娠的移动应用程序是提高女性对生殖健康的认识和态度的有前途的工具；然而，关于订阅者对应用程序功能的看法及其对他们的知识和健康的影响的信息很少。
本研究旨在探讨与月经周期和妊娠相关的知识和健康的提高，以及 Flo 应用程序使用者的一般健康状况的提高。我们还调查了 Flo 应用程序的哪些组件与上述改进相关，并评估了这些改进是否因教育程度、居住国家（低收入和中等收入与高收入国家）、应用程序的免费或高级订阅、应用程序的短期或长期使用以及使用频率而有所不同。
使用 Flo 应用程序不少于 30 天的 Flo 用户完成了一项基于网络的调查。共收集了 2212 份完整的调查回复。该调查包括人口统计问题以及关于指导 Flo 应用程序使用的动机的问题，以及应用程序的哪些组件提高了他们的知识和健康水平，以及提高了多少。
大多数研究参与者报告说，他们从 Flo 应用程序的使用中提高了月经周期（1292/1452，88.98%）和妊娠（698/824，84.7%）知识。教育程度较高的参与者和来自高收入国家的参与者报告说，他们主要使用该应用程序来怀孕（χ=4.2，P=.04；χ=52.3，P<.001）和妊娠追踪（χ=19.3，P<.001；χ=20.9，P=.001）。教育程度较低的参与者报告说，他们使用该应用程序是为了避免怀孕（χ=4.2；P=.04）和更多地了解自己的身体（χ=10.8；P=.001）和性健康（χ=6.3；P=.01），而来自低收入和中等收入国家的参与者则打算主要了解更多关于他们的性健康（χ=18.2；P<.001）。重要的是，应用程序的预期用途在教育水平和国家收入水平上与他们在使用 Flo 应用程序时获得知识和实现健康目标的领域相匹配。周期、易孕期和排卵预测以及症状跟踪一直是帮助用户了解周期知识和整体健康的应用程序的前 3 大组件。阅读文章或观看视频有助于用户了解他们的怀孕知识。最后，在高级、频繁和长期用户中观察到知识和健康的最大改善。
本研究表明，月经健康应用程序（如 Flo）可能成为在全球范围内促进消费者健康教育和赋权的革命性工具。
