A Mobile Phone App for the Provision of Personalized Food-Based Information in an Eating-Out Situation: Development and Initial Evaluation.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Appleton KM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6914280 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
A Mobile Phone App for the Provision of Personalized Food-Based Information in an Eating-Out Situation: Development and Initial Evaluation.
Appleton Katherine Marie KM Bray Jeff J Price Sarah S Liebchen Gernot G Jiang Nan N Mavridis Ioannis I Saulais Laure L Giboreau Agnès A Perez-Cueto Federico J A FJA Coolen Rebecca R Ronge Manfred M Hartwell Heather H
JMIR formative research 20191104 4
<h4>Background</h4>Increasing pressure from governments, public health bodies, and consumers is driving a need for increased food-based information provision in eating-out situations. Meals eaten outside the home are known to be less healthy than meals eaten at home, and consumers can complain of poor information on the health impact and allergen content of meals eaten out.<h4>Objective</h4>This paper aimed to describe the development and early assessment of a mobile phone app that allows the pr ...[more]
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Project description:The PulsePoint Respond app is a novel system that can be implemented in emergency dispatch centers to crowdsource basic life support (BLS) for patients with cardiac arrest and facilitate bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and automated external defibrillator use while first responders are en route.The aim of this study was to conduct a North American survey to evaluate the public perception of the above-mentioned strategy, including acceptability and willingness to respond to alerts.We designed a Web-based survey administered by IPSOS Reid, an established external polling vendor. Sampling was designed to ensure broad representation using recent census statistics.A total of 2415 survey responses were analyzed (1106 from Canada and 1309 from the United States). It was found that 98.37% (1088/1106) of Canadians and 96% (1259/1309) of Americans had no objections to PulsePoint being implemented in their community; 84.27% (932/1106) of Canadians and 55.61% (728/1309) of Americans said they would download the app to become a potential responder to cardiac arrest, respectively. Among Canadians, those who said they were likely to download PulsePoint were also more likely to have ever had CPR training (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2-2.4; P=.002); however, this was not true of American respondents (OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.79-1.3; P=.88). When asked to imagine themselves as a cardiac arrest victim, 95.39% (1055/1106) of Canadians and 92.44% (1210/1309) of Americans had no objections to receiving crowdsourced help in a public setting; 88.79% (982/1106) of Canadians and 84.87% (1111/1309) of Americans also had no objections to receiving help in a private setting, respectively. The most common concern identified with respect to PulsePoint implementation was a responder's lack of ability, training, or access to proper equipment in a public setting.The North American public finds the concept of crowdsourcing BLS for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest to be acceptable. It demonstrates willingness to respond to PulsePoint CPR notifications and to accept help from others alerted by the app if they themselves suffered a cardiac arrest.
| S-EPMC5451638 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo investigate the feasibility of the be.well app and its personalization approach which regularly considers users' preferences, amongst university students.MethodsWe conducted a mixed-methods, pre-post experiment, where participants used the app for 2 months. Eligibility criteria included: age 18-34 years; owning an iPhone with Internet access; and fluency in English. Usability was assessed by a validated questionnaire; engagement metrics were reported. Changes in physical activity were assessed by comparing the difference in daily step count between baseline and 2 months. Interviews were conducted to assess acceptability; thematic analysis was conducted.ResultsTwenty-three participants were enrolled in the study (mean age = 21.9 years, 71.4% women). The mean usability score was 5.6 ± 0.8 out of 7. The median daily engagement time was 2 minutes. Eighteen out of 23 participants used the app in the last month of the study. Qualitative data revealed that people liked the personalized activity suggestion feature as it was actionable and promoted user autonomy. Some users also expressed privacy concerns if they had to provide a lot of personal data to receive highly personalized features. Daily step count increased after 2 months of the intervention (median difference = 1953 steps/day, p-value <.001, 95% CI 782 to 3112).ConclusionsIncorporating users' preferences in personalized advice provided by a physical activity app was considered feasible and acceptable, with preliminary support for its positive effects on daily step count. Future randomized studies with longer follow up are warranted to determine the effectiveness of personalized mobile apps in promoting physical activity.
| S-EPMC9309778 | biostudies-literature
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| S-EPMC3161305 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWomen are increasingly turning to mobile health platforms to receive health information and support in pregnancy, yet the content of these platforms vary. Although there is great potential to influence health behaviors, little research has assessed the quality of these platforms or their ability to change behavior. In recent years, validated tools to assess app quality have become available.ObjectiveTo identify and assess the quality and ongoing popularity of the top 10 freely available pregnancy apps in Australia using validated tools.MethodsA systematic search on app stores to identify apps was performed. A Google Play search used subject terms pregnancy, parenting, and childbirth; the iTunes search used alternative categories medical and health and fitness. The top 250 apps from each store were cross-referenced, and the top 100 found in both Google Play and iTunes were screened for eligibility. Apps that provided health information or advice for pregnancy were included. Excluded apps focused on nonhealth information (eg, baby names). The top 10 pregnancy apps were assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). A comparative analysis was conducted at 2 time points over 2 years to assess the ongoing popularity of the apps. The MARS score was compared to the download and star rating data collected from iTunes and Google Play in 2017 and 2019. Health behaviors including breastfeeding, healthy pregnancy weight, and maternal awareness of fetal movements were reviewed for apparent impact on the user's knowledge, attitudes, and behavior change intentions using the MARS perceived impact section and the Coventry, Aberdeen, and London-Refined (CALO-RE) taxonomy.ResultsA total of 2052 free apps were screened for eligibility, 1397 were excluded, and 655 were reviewed and scored. The top 10 apps were selected using download numbers and star ratings. All 10 apps were suboptimal in quality, practicality, and functionality. It was not possible to identify a primary purpose for all apps, and there was overlap in purpose for many. The mean overall MARS app quality score across all 10 apps was 3.01 (range 1.97-4.40) in 2017 and 3.40 (range 2.27-4.44) in 2019. A minority of apps scored well for perceived impact on health behavior using the MARS tool. Using the CALO-RE 40 item taxonomy, the number of behavior change techniques used was low. The mean number of behavior change techniques for breastfeeding was 5 (range 2-11), for pregnancy weight was 4 (range 2-12), and for maternal awareness of fetal movements was 5 (range 2-8).ConclusionsThis review provides valuable information to clinicians and consumers about the quality of apps currently available for pregnancy in Australia. Consideration is needed regarding the regulation of information and the potential opportunity to incorporate behavior change techniques to improve maternal and fetal outcomes.
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