JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Since fall 2020 mHealth apps became an integral part of the German health care system. The belief that mHealth apps have the potential to make the health care system more efficient, close gaps in care, and improve health economic outcomes is unwavering and already partially confirmed. Nevertheless, problems and barriers in the context of mHealth apps usually remain unconsidered.

Objective:

The focus groups and interviews presented aim to shed light on problems and barriers in the context of mHealth apps from the perspective of patients.

Methods:

Guided focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with patients suffering from a disease for which an approved mHealth app was available at the time of the interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and subjected to a qualitative content analysis. The content analysis was based on 10 problem categories (“validity”, “usability”, “technology”, “use and adherence”, “data privacy and security”, “patient-physician relationship”, “knowledge and skills”, “individuality”, “implementation”, and “costs”) identified in a previously conducted scoping review.

Results:

A total of 38 patients were interviewed in 5 focus groups and 5 individual interviews. All 10 problem categories were discussed and considered important by patients. A myriad of problem manifestations could be identified for each category. This study shows that there are relevant problems and barriers in the context of mHealth apps from the perspective of patients and that further attention should be paid to them.

Conclusions:

There are basically three different areas of problems in the context of mHealth apps that could be addressed to improve care. These are the quality of the respective mHealth app, its integration into health care and the expandable digital literacy of patients.