JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In Thailand, The National Science and Technology Development Agency developed ThaiSook™, a behavior tracking app, to promote healthy lifestyles. The MED PSU×ThaiSook Healthier Challenge encouraged employees to use the app over a 28-day period (July 11 to August 7, 2022). Until recently, no previous studies have examined the association of generations and group sizes with mobile health (mHealth) app use.

Objective:

This study aimed to describe the demographic characteristics of the participants of the MED PSU×ThaiSook Healthier Challenge and compare the overall app usage and logging function across different generations and group sizes.

Methods:

A secondary data analysis of the data from the ThaiSook™ prospective cohort study was conducted. Data were collected via the app and comprised demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, weight, height, and group size) and behaviors (i.e., water consumption, fruit and vegetable consumption, sleep hours, and exercise). The outcomes consisted of users who used the app for at least 80% of the participation period (≥23 days). Bivariate tests (Pearson’s chi-square test for categorical variable and Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests for continuous variables) were conducted over sex, generations, initial body mass index, and group size. Finally, multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between the independent variables used by the ThaiSook™ app and consistent users who had used the app for at least 80%.

Results:

Of the 827 participants, most users were females (88.8%), belonged to a medium-sized group of 6–10 members (57.9%), and most belonged to Generation Y (49.5%). Multivariate analysis revealed that the overall app usage was 2.09 times higher in women than in men (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 2.09, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.27, 3.44). The older generations used all logging functions more frequently than Generation Y (Baby Boomer: AOR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.31, 4.92; Generation X: AOR = 1.96, 95% CI: 1.42, 2.72). The use of all logging functions was higher among participants belonging to larger groups than among those belonging to small groups (large groups: AOR = 2.85, 95% CI: 1.58, 5.16; medium groups: AOR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.47, 2.88). The most used logging feature was water logging (806 participants [97.5% of overall users]), followed by food logging, sleep logging, and workout logging.

Conclusions:

The MED PSUxThaiSook Healthier Challenge participants were mostly females, from Generation Y, and from medium-sized groups. Water logging was the most frequently used logging function, followed by fruit and vegetable logging. The results indicated that generation and group size were significantly associated with consistent and daily usage (P<0.05). Strikingly, the older generations used the app more regularly than the younger generations. Furthermore, larger groups also engaged with the app with more consistency compared with smaller groups and individuals. Clinical Trial: -