Abstract
BackgroundChina has had about 1.2 billion mobile-phone users, and this number continues to grow. However, mobile-health services (mHealth) are currently in the initial stage, and have not yet prevailed in China. Additionally, the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in China is 1700/100,000 (≥65 years). Indeed, these PD patients would benefit from mHealth to manage their disease. Therefore, we designed a study to determine attitudes toward smartphone applications (apps) for chronic condition self-management, and to discover the practicality of these apps among PD patients in China.MethodsWe selected 204 participants with PD between 52 and 87 years old and surveyed their attitudes concerning the use of smartphone apps for chronic condition management via questionnaires.ResultsAmong the participants, 65.19% had smartphones. Among these smartphone users, 82.84% expressed a preference for using apps for PD management. This group tended to be younger and more frequent web users with higher education and better medication compliance, and they tended to have a longer PD course and worse conditions (P < 0.001, P = 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.041, P < 0.001, P = 0.013). Additionally, the willingness to apply apps for PD self-management was positively related to education (P < 0.001) and negatively related to age and PD course (P = 0.017, P < 0.001).ConclusionIn China, patients with PD have a generally positive attitude towards self-management through smartphone apps. Consequently, improving the coverage of smartphones with practical and handy apps is a promising strategy for PD self-management.
Highlights
China has had about 1.2 billion mobile-phone users, and this number continues to grow
We investigated the preferences of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) with regards to smartphone apps
The results suggest that the willingness of patients to use apps for PD management is positively related to education level (P < 0.001)
Summary
China has had about 1.2 billion mobile-phone users, and this number continues to grow. The prevalence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) in China is 1700/100,000 (≥65 years). These PD patients would benefit from mHealth to manage their disease. We designed a study to determine attitudes toward smartphone applications (apps) for chronic condition self-management, and to discover the practicality of these apps among PD patients in China. Recent studies have indicated that smartphone applications (apps) have the potential to offer automated and customized support for medication compliance to individuals with chronic diseases [7]. A variety of apps have been developed and successfully applied for effective self-management by patients with hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases [8,9,10,11,12]. Self-management is considered one of the most effective measures to help improve PD patient medication compliance, control their clinical symptoms, and mitigate the adverse effects of the disease [13, 15]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
