The use of mobile health applications for the prevention of non-communicable diseases

Analyzation of the use of Mobile Health (mHealth) applications in different user groups in order to evaluate the potential that mHealth provides for the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCD). Cross-sectional online survey with 1119 participants in Switzerland. Forty percent used mHealth applications. Most participants used mHealth to promote their health (70%), influence a specific aspect of their health (59%) and monitor their fitness level (61%). mHealth was used more often by people suffering from NCD (p<0.05) and participants older than fifty years did not use mHealth less than younger participants (p>0.05). Trust in the collected data was high (93%), however, participants rarely relied on scientific recommendation for choosing mHealth applications (14%) and only the minority discussed the data with a physician (19%). The majority saw advantages in using mHealth for the prevention of NCD (62%) and providing patients with the possibility to control their lifestyle changes (59%). mHealth is used across all age groups and significantly more often by people suffering from NCD. However, the collected data is not evaluated systematically. We suggest the inclusion of mHealth into the health care plan to increase patient empowerment to beneficially affect the development of NCD.