JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The integration of patient-generated health data (PGHD) into healthcare has the potential to significantly transform patient care and clinical practice. PGHD includes health-related data created by patients, enabling the collection of health data beyond traditional healthcare settings. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) has taken proactive steps to incorporate PGHD into healthcare through its Share My Health Data mobile app. Launched in 2023, Share My Health Data allows veterans to securely share data from their personal digital health devices with the VA for clinical and research use. Understanding characteristics of patients using the Share My Health Data app is essential for informing future implementation efforts.

Objective:

To identify the characteristics of patients using the VA Share My Health Data mobile app, which allows veterans to share PGHD with the VA.

Methods:

We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of veterans who began using Share My Health Data between October 2023 and September 2024 (“users”, n=3,157). Demographic information, including age, sex, race/ethnicity, and rurality, and clinical information, including physiological and mental health conditions, were collected from VA administrative data. We compared characteristics of users to a random sample of veterans that had never used the mobile app (“non-users”, n = 635,344). Statistical analyses were performed using chi-square tests, independent t-tests, and multivariable regression to assess the relationship between use and key characteristics.

Results:

Adjusted analyses revealed that being female (OR=1.31, 95% CI: 1.18–1.44), living in higher income zip codes (OR=1.05, 95% CI: 1.03–1.06), having a service-connected disability (OR=1.77, 95% CI: 1.58–1.99), having 1 (OR=1.63, 95% CI: 1.49–1.79) or ≥2 physiological chronic conditions (OR=1.74, 95% CI: 1.55–0.94), and having ≥2 mental health conditions (OR=1.37, 95% CI: 1.25–1.50) was associated with increased odds of Share My Health Data app use. Conversely, being older (OR=0.97, 95% CI: 0.97–0.97), Black non-Hispanic (OR=0.69, 95% CI: 0.62–0.77), other race/ethnicity (OR=0.79, 95% CI: 0.64–0.97), or unknown race/ethnicity (OR=0.78, 95% CI: 0.67–0.90), living in a rural area (OR=0.82, 95% CI: 0.76–0.90), and being divorced/separated (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.78–0.93) or singled/widowed (OR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.53–0.66) were associated with decreased odds of app use.

Conclusions:

Early adopters of the Share My Health Data app differed from the general population of VA patients in terms of demographics and clinical presentation. Describing early adopters of the Share My Health Data app can provide insight into the types of patients who may be most willing to see PGHD integrated into the delivery and receipt of their healthcare.