JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There is significant global interest in promoting wellness, with digital solutions like mobile health apps being broadly downloaded, yet there's a challenge in sustaining engagement for long-term behavior change. Developing a widely accepted mobile wellness application is imperative for advancing personalized wellness interventions.

Objective:

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the Aspire2B wellness application, designed to exceed industry standards for participant engagement by incorporating evidence-based behavior change strategies, and to assess its acceptability and utility as a digital health solution.

Methods:

Participants aged 18-65y, who were smartphone and fitness tracker users, were recruited in the United States during March-May 2022. Participants received $5 compensation for downloading the app, with no further incentive for usage. Following completion of onboarding (i.e., survey questions about lifestyle behaviors), participants were placed in either a nutrition, sleep, or fitness 4-week challenge. During the challenge, participants used various app features at their own will, such as a facial scan for wellness insights (e.g., heart rate and biological age), recipes, and workout videos. Participants were also asked to answer off-boarding questions to evaluate any changes to lifestyle behaviors and experience using the application features (e.g., acceptability of face scan experience).

Results:

Out of the 398 people who created an account, 85.9% (342/398) completed onboarding and a face scan. Following this, 74.9% (298/398) of users completed additional survey questions about current wellness behaviors. Notably, interaction with the app was relatively stable from week 2 through 4. Additionally, on average, participants completed 2.1 – 2.7 face scans per week, with approximately 7.0% (24/342) of participants maintaining regular use of face scan technology for 4 weeks. In users who completed offboarding questions, 88.8% (111/125) found Aspire2B credible, only 7.2% (9/125) disliked the face scan experience, and 83.2% (104/125) said they would use face scan technology for other insights into their health.

Conclusions:

These findings highlight strong initial engagement with Aspire2B, followed by significant sustained user engagement over a four-week period. Moreover, users indicated high levels of credibility and willingness to utilize face scan technology for wellness insights. These findings collectively demonstrate the capability of a personalized wellness application utilizing AI-enabled digital biomarkers and evidence-supported behavior change techniques to yield positive user perception and provide sustained engagement. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06191822; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06191822