Using mHealth to Provide Mobile App Users With Visualization of Health Checkup Data and Educational Videos on Lifestyle-Related Diseases: Methodological Framework for Content Development
JMIR MHEALTH AND UHEALTH
Authors: Aida, Azusa; Svensson, Thomas; Svensson, Akiko Kishi; Urushiyama, Hirokazu; Okushin, Kazuya; Oguri, Gaku; Kubota, Naoto; Koike, Kazuhiko; Nangaku, Masaomi; Kadowaki, Takashi; Yamauchi, Toshimasa; Ung-Il Chung
Abstract
Background: The number of people with lifestyle-related diseases continues to increase worldwide. Improving lifestyle behavior with health literacy may be the key to address lifestyle-related diseases. The delivery of educational videos using mobile health (mHealth) services can replace the conventional way of educating individuals, and visualization can replace the provision of health checkup data. Objective: This paper aimed to describe the development of educational content for MIRAMED, a mobile app aimed at improving users' lifestyle behaviors and health literacy for lifestyle-related diseases. Methods: All videos were based on a single unified framework to provide users with a consistent flow of information. The framework was later turned into a storyboard. The final video contents were created based on this storyboard and further discussions with leading experts and specialist physicians on effective communication with app users about lifestyle-related diseases. Results: The app uses visualization of personal health checkup data and educational videos on lifestyle-related diseases based on the current health guidelines, scientific evidence, and expert opinions of leading specialist physicians in the respective fields. A total of 8 videos were created for specific lifestyle-related diseases affecting 8 organs: (1) brain-cerebrovascular disorder, (2) eyes-diabetic retinopathy, (3) lungs-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, (4) heart-ischemic heart disease, (5) liver-fatty liver, 6) kidneys-chronic kidney disease (diabetic kidney disease), (7) blood vessels-peripheral arterial disease, and (8) nerves-diabetic neuropathy. Conclusions: Providing enhanced mHealth education using novel digital technologies to visualize conventional health checkup data and lifestyle-related diseases is an innovative strategy. Future studies to evaluate the efficacy of the developed content are planned.
A Patient Self-Checkup App for COVID-19: Development and Usage Pattern Analysis
JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH
Authors: Heo, JoonNyung; Sung, MinDong; Yoon, Sangchul; Jang, Jinkyu; Lee, Wonwoo; Han, Deokjae; Kim, Hyung-Jun; Kim, Han-Kyeol; Han, Ji Hyuk; Seog, Woong; Ha, Beomman; Park, Yu Rang
Abstract
Background: Clear guidelines for a patient with suspected COVID-19 infection are unavailable. Many countries rely on assessments through a national hotline or telecommunications, but this only adds to the burden of an already overwhelmed health care system. In this study, we developed an algorithm and a web application to help patients get screened. Objective: This study aims to aid the general public by developing a web-based application that helps patients decide when to seek medical care during a novel disease outbreak. Methods: The algorithm was developed via consultations with 6 physicians who directly screened, diagnosed, and/or treated patients with COVID-19. The algorithm mainly focused on when to test a patient in order to allocate limited resources more efficiently. The application was designed to be mobile-friendly and deployed on the web. We collected the application usage pattern data from March 1 to March 27, 2020. We evaluated the association between the usage pattern and the numbers of COVID-19 confirmed, screened, and mortality cases by access location and digital literacy by age group. Results: The algorithm used epidemiological factors, presence of fever, and other symptoms. In total, 83,460 users accessed the application 105,508 times. Despite the lack of advertisement, almost half of the users accessed the application from outside of Korea. Even though the digital literacy of the 60+ years age group is half of that of individuals in their 50s, the number of users in both groups was similar for our application. Conclusions: We developed an expert-opinion-based algorithm and web-based application for screening patients. This innovation can be helpful in circumstances where information on a novel disease is insufficient and may facilitate efficient medical resource allocation.