Functions of mHealth applications: A user’s perspective
Abstract
The usage of mobile health (mHealth) applications is rapidly increasing. This research has been aimed mostly at reviewing existing mHealth apps and their functionality. However, studies from users’ perspectives are rather scarce. This exploratory study addresses that gap and, using cross-sectional survey data, seeks to reveal the socio-demographic and individual characteristics of users who utilize specific functions of mHealth apps. The data were collected via an online survey through websites oriented toward eating habits, exercising, dieting, and weight loss. From the original sample (1002 users; M = 24.8, standard deviation = 6.9; 81.6% females), the final sub-sample of 406 participants aged from 13 to 39 years (M = 23.8, standard deviation = 5.3, 86.9% females) who reported usage of mHealth apps was examined. The analyses revealed demographic and individual differences in predicting usage of various functions of mHealth apps. The drive for thinness was associated with functions for weight monitoring and planning functions. Excessive exercise was associated with weight monitoring, socializing functions, and functions for planning and monitoring goals. These findings imply that mHealth apps should be individually tailored to incorporate components such as risk-specific warnings or the provision of information related to seeking professional help for at-risk audiences.
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App literacy skills influence both uptake of and engagement with health and well-being smartphone apps.
“Under capability, the main factors identified were app literacy skills (B), app awareness (U), available user guidance (B), health information (E), statistical information on progress (E), well-designed reminders (E), features to reduce cognitive load (E), and self-monitoring features (E).”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [65]
Advanced app literacy is associated with increased use of the social functions of an app, but not with functions that target action planning and goal management.
“In a cross-sectional study, advanced app literacy was associated with increased use of the social functions of an app, such as networking, but not with the functions that target action planning and goal management [65].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [65]
One study found that being male was associated with using an app to manage alcohol consumption.
“Apps were more frequently downloaded by women than men, with the percentage ranging from 59% to 74% [38,41,49,53,55,63], although 1 study found that being male was associated with using an app to manage alcohol consumption [65].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [65]
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“The focus of some studies was very specific and targeted a certain health behavior or condition, including alcohol reduction [38,46,54,58,59,64], smoking cessation [40,58,67,72,77], increasing physical activity [39,45,48,49,53,62,65,68], weight management [47,48,51,53,63,65,66,71,78], depression [52,61], mindfulness […”
BackgroundInfluentialA Comprehensive Picture of Factors Affecting User Willingness to Use Mobile Health Applications
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- Authors
- Smahel, D., Elavsky, S., & Machackova, H.
- Affiliations
- Masaryk University, Czech Republic
- Masaryk University (CZ)
- ORCID
- Elavsky, Steriani
- Venue
- Health Informatics Journal
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2017-11-10
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1065-1075
- ISSN
- 1355-4743 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-4582
- 1741-2811
- OpenAlex
- W2768088171
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 3.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Health Informatics Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Grantová Agentura eská Republiky (THINLINE-GA15-05696S)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Health, Technology, Consumer Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Keywords
- mobile health apps, user characteristics, sociodemographic differences, drive for thinness, excessive exercise, weight monitoring, goal planning, dietary habits, dieting, weight loss
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Patients, Surveys and Questionnaires, Telemedicine, Czech Republic
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