JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Hot flashes are distressing for women who experience them, and they are associated with lower quality of life [2] and psychological well-being [3]. Hot flashes are also associated with sleep disturbances [4-6]. Given the many consequences of hot flashes, it is important to find treatments to reduce them. Hypnotherapy, the use of hypnosis for a medical disorder or concern, has been shown to be effective for reducing hot flashes [14,15]. Although hypnotherapy has been shown to be effective in clinical trials, it is not routinely used in clinical practice. One solution to close this implementation gap is to administer hypnotherapy for hot flashes via a smartphone app. Evia is a smartphone app that delivers hypnotherapy for hot flashes. Evia has made hypnotherapy more widely accessible for women who are experiencing hot flashes; however, the app has yet to undergo empirical testing. Additionally, research on user characteristics is lacking.

Objective:

This is the first study to report the characteristics of users of Evia. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of users of the Evia app.

Methods:

The present study analyzed data collected from participants who have downloaded the Evia app. These data were collected by Mindset Health, the developers of the Evia app. Users of the Evia app fill out a questionnaire upon enrolling in the program and prior to beginning the intervention.

Results:

Results showed that the average age of app users is in line with the average age of menopause onset, the largest percentage of users reported experiencing 5 or more hot flashes per day and reported their hot flashes to be moderate intensity. Most users reported difficulty falling asleep each night and reported their sleep quality to be terrible or fair. Most users reported that they sometimes or often feel anxious or depressed.

Conclusions:

This was the first study to report on characteristics of users of the Evia app and these results will be used to optimize the hypnotherapy program delivered via the Evia app.