JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Demographic changes and a low birth rate have led to a workforce shortage in Japan. To address this issue, the government has promoted engagement of female employment. However, increased female employment can impact women's health. Using IoT (Internet of Things) and Apps (Applications) for managing women's health has gained attention, but few studies focus on working women. This study aimed to examine the adoption of IoT/Apps among working women in Japan using a large-scale web survey.

Objective:

This study aimed to clarify the current situation of working women, and their use of IoT/Apps to manage their health.

Methods:

A large-scale, nationwide internet survey was conducted among 10,000 female participants aged from 20 to 64 years in Japan. The survey included questions about health status, socio-demographic factors, psychological characteristics, and the use of IoT/Apps for health management. We compared perceived health status and reasons for current IoT use by the t-test, and assessed participant characteristics that predicted IoT use using the C5.0 decision tree algorithm.

Results:

14.6% of study participants were currently using IoT/Apps, while 7.0% had previously used them but were not currently doing so. Discrepancies were observed between participants' perceived health problems and the purpose of using IoT/Apps, especially in menstrual symptoms or disorders and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Although 24.5% of participants experience menstrual symptoms or disorders, only 11.9% used IoT/Apps to manage symptom improvement. Decision tree analysis showed that women who do not practice physical exercise regularly were less likely to use IoT, while pregnant women who did regularly perform exercise were likely to use IoT.

Conclusions:

Our findings highlight the idea that woman with particular health problems (i.e. menstrual symptoms or disorders and PMS) have lower use of IoT/Apps, suggesting an unmet need for IoT/Apps in specific areas.