Abstract
BackgroundHealth apps are increasingly becoming an integral part of health care. Especially in older adults, the self-management of chronic diseases by health apps might become an integral part of health care services.ObjectiveThe aim of this explorative study was to investigate the prevalence of health app use and related demographic factors, as well as health status among older adults in Germany.MethodsA nationwide postal survey was conducted. Of the 5000 individuals contacted, a total of 576 participants completed this survey. On the basis of their self-indicated assignment to one of the three predefined user groups (health app users, general app users, and nonusers of apps), participants answered various questions regarding app and health app use, including frequency of use and number of installed apps, demographic factors, and health status.ResultsIn total, 16.5% (95/576) used health apps, whereas 37.5% (216/576) indicated only using general apps, and 46.0% (265/576) reported using no apps at all. The number of installed health apps was most frequently reported as between 1 and 5 apps per participant, which were usually used on a weekly basis. The most frequently cited type of health apps were exercise-related ones. Individuals using health apps were found to be younger (MeanmHealth 66.6, SD 4.7) and to have a higher level of technical readiness compared with general app users and nonusers of apps (adjusted odds ratio, AOR=4.02 [95% CI 2.23-7.25] for technical readiness, and AOR=0.905 [95% CI 0.85-0.97] for age). The most frequently mentioned sources of information about apps within the group of health and general app users were family and friends. Identified barriers against the use of health apps were a lack of trust, data privacy concerns, and fear of misdiagnosis.ConclusionsHealth apps are already used by older adults in Germany. The main type of apps used are exercise-related ones. Barriers to and incentives for the use of health apps and associations with health status and users’ demographics were revealed.
Highlights
The number of households with individuals older than 75 years will double by 2050
Health apps are already used by older adults in Germany
We investigated the prevalence of health apps among older adults in Germany, incentives for and barriers to their use, as well as which sources users rely on to gain information about health apps
Summary
Fifty percent of the population of Germany will be older than 50 years and 12% older than 80 years [1] In this context, aging is often associated with a decline in quality of life (QoL) because of factors such as limited mobility and autonomy and the appearance of various chronic diseases [2]. By providing older adults with suitable health apps, they http://mhealth.jmir.org/2018/1/e26/ XSLFO RenderX. Health apps analyze and process these data and could provide integral support to health care services in the future [3,6,8]. In older adults, the self-management of chronic diseases by health apps might become an integral part of health care services
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