Understanding the Use of Smartphone Apps for Health Information Among Pregnant Chinese Women: Mixed Methods Study
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hospital-based health promotion resources to assist pregnant women in adopting a healthy lifestyle and optimizing gestational weight gain are important, but with limited effects. Increasingly, women are using mobile apps to access health information during the antenatal period. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the study were to investigate app-usage by Chinese women during pregnancy and to gain a better understanding of their views and attitudes toward apps containing health information. METHODS: A mixed methods study design was applied. Study participants were recruited from 2 maternity hospitals in Shanghai, China, between March and July 2018. A self-administered Web-based survey was conducted with 535 pregnant Chinese women on their sources of health information and reasons for using apps during pregnancy. A total of 4 semistructured focus groups were also conducted with the pregnant women (n=28). RESULTS: The use of pregnancy-related apps and the internet was common among the respondents. Almost half of the women had used pregnancy-related apps. Specifically, the use of apps for health information declined as pregnancy progressed from 70% (35/50) in the first trimester to 41.3% (143/346) in the third trimester. The main reason for using an app was to monitor fetal development (436/535, 81.5%), followed by learning about nutrition and recording diet in pregnancy (140/535, 26.2%). The women found that the apps were useful and convenient and can support lifestyle modifications during pregnancy. However, some apps also contained misinformation or incorrect information that could cause anxiety as reported by the participants. Many women expressed the need for developing an app containing evidence-based, well-informed, and tailored health information to support them during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that apps were widely used by many Chinese women during pregnancy to monitor fetal development, to obtain diet and physical activity information, and to track their body changes. The women highly appreciated the evidence-based information, expert opinions, and tailored advice available on apps. Smartphone apps have the potential to deliver health information for pregnant women.
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Some users wanted a credible source, a trustworthy and evidence-based guide with references to the information they receive.
“Some users wanted a credible source, a trustworthy and evidence-based guide with references to the information they receive (Q8) [62,70,73].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [73]
The Results (Qualitative Findings) report that participants wanted professional, evidence-based information and found doctor-authored articles more convincing. The Discussion (Principal Findings) also says many women wanted evidence-based information in an app. Neither passage says users wanted references accompanying the information they received. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSafety netting was found to be useful to maintain the behavior, even when the target behavior has been achieved.
“Furthermore, safety netting [37,61,66,73], defined as the ability of an app to provide aftercare [66] and an option to retain an app for a potential precipitating event in the future and for relapse prevention, was found to be useful to maintain the behavior, even when the target behavior has been achieved (Q24).”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [73]
The Results > Qualitative Findings (page unavailable) say apps can facilitate lifestyle changes during pregnancy and that some participants continued using apps after pregnancy because they found them helpful. The paper does not say that safety netting, aftercare, or relapse prevention maintained a target behavior after it had been achieved. (LLM, conf=0.81)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCommunity networking was considered an important social support by reinforcing behavior change.
“It was considered an important social support by reinforcing behavior change [47,56,59,62,69,72,73] and by sharing knowledge and experiences [37,69,73,75].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [73]
The Discussion (Principal Findings; page unavailable) describes communication between pregnant women as a way to seek peer support and share experiences. The Results (Qualitative Findings; page unavailable) say apps can facilitate lifestyle changes, but do not say community networking reinforces behavior change. The claimed link between social support and behavior change is therefore unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredTurning to internet-based resources and/or mobile apps for information and support has been previously identified in other aspects of women's health, such as endometriosis and pregnancy.
“Turning to internet-based resources and/or mobile apps for information and support has been previously identified in other aspects of women’s health, such as endometriosis [112] and pregnancy [113].”
From Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and the Internet of Things: A Scoping Review (2024) · cites this paper as [113]
Community networking was considered an important social support by sharing knowledge and experiences.
“It was considered an important social support by reinforcing behavior change [47,56,59,62,69,72,73] and by sharing knowledge and experiences [37,69,73,75].”
From Influences on the Uptake of and Engagement With Health and Well-Being Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [73]
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- Authors
- Wang, N., Deng, Z., Wen, L. M., Ding, Y., & He, G.
- Affiliations
- Fudan University (CN)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- He, Gengsheng
- Venue
- JMIR mhealth and uhealth
- Publisher
- JMIR Publications Inc.
- Published
- 2019-06-18
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- e12631
- ISSN
- 2291-5222 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6604500
- OpenAlex
- W2945647424
- Cited by
- 106
- References
- 35
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 17.04
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- JMIR mhealth and uhealth (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (81773413)
- Fudan University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Keywords
- mobile application, pregnancy, pregnant women, health information seeking, prenatal period, gestational nutrition, gestational weight gain, health misinformation, maternal health promotion, Chinese women, mobile health
- MeSH terms
- Adult, China, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Pregnancy, Focus Groups, Qualitative Research, Pregnant People, Pregnant Women, Mobile Applications, Health Information Exchange
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