Abstract
There is an absolute need for technology in our daily life that makes people busy with their smartphones all day long. In the healthcare field, mobile apps have been widely used for the treatment of many diseases. Most of these apps were designed without considering health behavior change models. Celiac disease is a significant public health problem worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, the incidence of celiac disease is 1.5%. Celiac patients have a natural demand for resources to facilitate care and research; however, they have not received much attention in the field of healthcare apps. This study introduced a new health behavior change model based on the existing common models and adapted it to the use of technology for the changing behavior of celiac patients towards healthy suitable food. As proof of concept, the new model was applied to the WhatsApp chatbot for patients with celiac disease. To test the impact of the chatbot, 60 Saudi celiac patients participated in three steps. First, they completed a pre-test questionnaire. Then, the participants were divided into two groups: the control group, which was left without any intervention, and the test group, who used the chatbot for 90 days. Finally, all participants completed the post-test questionnaire. The results confirmed a significant statistical difference between both groups, and the test group improved their healthy life in terms of eating habits, reduced celiac symptoms, and commitment to the treatment plan.
Highlights
There is an absolute need for technology in daily life
Most healthcare apps aim to monitor patients' behaviors and follow their improvement [8]. Most of these apps were designed without considering the health behavior change models such as the health belief model (HBM), theory of planned behavior (TPB), diffusion of innovation theory (DOI), social norms theory (SNT), and transtheoretical model (TTM) [8]
The control and test groups answered the pre-test questionnaire on December 19, 2020, and the test group started using the proposed chatbot on December 21, 2020
Summary
There is an absolute need for technology in daily life. Everyone is dependent on technology to the point that we cannot stay without it; starting from communicating with others and ending monitoring of health. Most of these apps were designed without considering the health behavior change models such as the health belief model (HBM), theory of planned behavior (TPB), diffusion of innovation theory (DOI), social norms theory (SNT), and transtheoretical model (TTM) [8]. This cast doubts their effectiveness in controlling user behavior or changing it [9]. A few apps are based on one of the health behavior change models, but some studies have proven that they are ineffective in avoiding relapse and because there are many flaws in these models [9]
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