Abstract
Mobile health (mHealth) apps have great potential to improve health outcomes. Given that mHealth apps have become ubiquitous, there is limited focus on their abandonment. Data concerning crucial metrics, including reasons for adoption and discontinued use, are limited. This study aims to gain broad insights into utilization of mHealth and game-like features promoting user engagement. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 209 mHealth users worldwide. The 17-item survey assessed sociodemographics, as well as the key motivators for mHealth uptake and discontinued use. Our findings show that sports and fitness activity tracking were the most common categories of health apps, with most users engaging with them at least several times a week. Interestingly, the most downloaded mHealth apps among younger adults include MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, Nike Run Club, and Samsung Health. Critical drivers of abandonment of mHealth apps were amotivation, loss of interest, and experimenting with different apps to identify the most suitable tool. Additionally, the financial cost of mHealth apps is crucial, with most participants advocating for free or more affordable apps. The study findings suggest that while many individuals utilize mHealth, several factors drive their abandonment. Moreover, data indicate that mHealth developers need to consider gamification strategies to sustain user commitment, as well as psychological variables, such as intrinsic motivation.
Highlights
Mobile health apps are widely used in the health sector to support behavioural health outcomes and improve users’ health. mHealth software runs on smartphones and other mobile devices to promote wellness and prevent medical conditions among the general public [1]
In line with other studies [30,31], the results show that lack of interest or declining motivation (31.6%) is one of the critical factors for the abandonment of mHealth apps
Prior studies highlighted the significant impact of motivation on the sustained use of fitness apps [20], it is unclear what drives adoption of, engagement with, and discontinued use of these apps
Summary
Mobile health (mHealth) apps are widely used in the health sector to support behavioural health outcomes and improve users’ health. mHealth software runs on smartphones and other mobile devices to promote wellness and prevent medical conditions among the general public [1]. MHealth software runs on smartphones and other mobile devices to promote wellness and prevent medical conditions among the general public [1]. Mobile health (mHealth) apps are widely used in the health sector to support behavioural health outcomes and improve users’ health. These apps can help shift attitudes and behaviours by disseminating, gathering, and analysing health-related data and supporting interventions. MHealth interventions are rapidly growing in popularity. Popular mHealth apps for tracking physical activity (PA), step count, food intake, and medication adherence include Fitbit, Medisafe, Nike+, MyFitnessPal, and Strava
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