Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Mar 11, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 14, 2019 - Apr 11, 2019
Date Accepted: Jul 7, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The functional pattern of in-store mobile apps of self-management in diabetes: a cross-sectional survey in China and the US
ABSTRACT
Background:
The mobile health intervention was widely used for the self-management of diabetes which is one of the most burdensome noncommunicable chronic diseases in the world. However, little is known about the patterns of the in-store mobile applications (apps) for diabetes.
Objective:
Our study aims to investigate the functional pattern of the in-store mobile apps of self-management for diabetes in the US and China using a predefined functional taxonomy.
Methods:
We screened the apps by searching “diabetes” in English or Chinese from Apple iTunes Store and Android Markets (both in the US and China) and included apps of self-management for diabetes. We examined the validity and reliability of the predefined functional taxonomy. We then classified all functions in the included apps according to the taxonomy and compared the difference of the pattern of the apps between the US and China.
Results:
We included 171 mobile diabetes apps, with 133 from the US and 38 from China. The apps from both countries faced the challenges of evidence-based information, proper risk assessment and declaration, especially Chinese apps. Chinese apps provide more inter-human communication (general communication: Chinese vs US apps, 39.5% vs 18.0%, P=.006 and patient-clinician communication: Chinese vs US apps, 68.4% vs 6.0%, P<.001), while the US apps included more decision-making modules (Chinese vs US apps, 0% vs 23.3%, P=.001), which is a high-risk module. Both complication prevention (Chinese vs US apps, 7.9% vs 3.8%, p=.05) and psychological care (Chinese vs US apps, 0% vs 0.8%, p>.99) are neglected by the two countries.
Conclusions:
The functional patterns of the in-store mobile apps of self-management for diabetes were different between China and the US. The design of the functions needs to be optimized and had better be under surveillance.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
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