JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

A healthy lifestyle plays a key role in the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, including subfertility and pregnancy complications. Although the benefits of a healthy lifestyle are well-known, long term adherence is limited. Moreover, memory for lifestyle-related information as well as medical information provided by the medical professional is often poor and insufficient. In order to innovate and improve healthcare for both the patients and healthcare professionals, we developed a prototype of a digital life course care platform (‘Smarter Health’ app) providing personalized lifestyle care trajectories and integrated in medical care journeys.

Objective:

This pilot study aimed to evaluate the feasibility, defined as the actual app usage, and the usability, which included patient satisfaction and appreciation, of the ‘Smarter Health’ app.

Methods:

Between 17 March 2021 and 30 September 2021, pregnant women familiar with the Dutch language seeking tertiary preconception and pregnancy care were offered the app as part of standard medical care at the outpatient clinic ‘Healthy Pregnancy’ of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Erasmus MC). Three months after activation of the app, the patients received a digital questionnaire consisting aspects of feasibility and usability.

Results:

During this pilot study, 440 patients visited the outpatient clinic ‘Healthy Pregnancy’. In total, 293 patients activated the app (activation rate: 66.5% (293/440)) and 125 patients filled out the questionnaire (response rate: 42.7% (125/293)), of whom 48 patients actually used the app (38.4% (48/125)). Most app users used the app occasionally, and logged in eight times during their medical care trajectory. Overall, the app users were satisfied with the app (median 5-point Likert scale = 2.4, IQR = 2.0 - 3.3).

Conclusions:

Our findings showed that the ‘Smarter Health’ app, which integrates lifestyle care in medical care, is a feasible healthcare innovation, and that patients were satisfied with the app. Follow-up and evaluation of pregnancy outcomes should be performed to further substantiate wider implementation.