The effect of symptom‐tracking apps on symptom reporting

Abstract

Objective. The use of health apps is increasing worldwide, with a common feature being daily symptom tracking. However, symptom tracking has been shown to increase symptom reporting. This study investigated whether using a menstrual-monitoring app with a symptom-tracking feature increases symptom reporting compared to an app without this feature or no app at all. Design. Experimental study. Methods. Ninety-one participants were randomly allocated to use either a menstrualmonitoring app with a symptom tracker or a simple calendar app, or to a no app control group. The number of period-related symptoms as well as general symptom reporting was assessed at baseline prior to group allocation and then 1 and 4 months later. The change in the proportion of people classified as high symptom reporters was also examined. Results. We found that the symptom-tracking app group reported significantly more period-related symptoms at 4 months than the calendar app group (mean difference = 1.16 symptoms, p = .010). At the 4-month time point, significantly more participants in the symptom-tracking group were now classified as high period symptom reporters (baseline 50%, 4 months 70%, p = .031), while the other two groups did not change from baseline. There were no differences in general symptom reporting across the three groups. Conclusion. A period-monitoring app with a symptom tracker may increase the reporting of period symptoms. This effect does not appear to generalize to broader symptom reporting. Further research is needed to support these findings and to examine the impact of symptom-tracking apps on daily functioning and health anxiety. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The experience of transient symptoms is common in day-today life. These symptoms often do not have an underlying cause or are a sign of illness. Actively tracking symptoms has been shown to result in greater symptom reporting, symptom severity, and slower recovery from injury. The use of health apps is increasing, with a common feature being symptom tracking. Menstrualmonitoring apps, in particular, frequently require users to track symptoms.

The real-world applications of the symptom tracking functionality available to menstrual health tracking apps

“…Further complicating the issue, users are not consistent and thorough in their tracking practices. Most users report changes in the number and categories of symptoms recorded over the course of their interaction with an app [ 10 ]. Numerous studies, including some specific to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) indicate that the presentation of symptoms and having knowledge of symptoms can lead to initial exacerbated symptom recording.…”

“…Numerous studies, including some specific to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) indicate that the presentation of symptoms and having knowledge of symptoms can lead to initial exacerbated symptom recording. Once the novelty of the app has decreased, and with increased self-awareness, however, users no longer feel the need to record as frequently [ 2 ▪ , 10 ]. Researcher must, therefore, evaluate the quality of the data collected and strategize to eliminate self-tracking artifacts [ 11 ].…”

Social communication pathways to COVID-19 vaccine side-effect expectations and experience

“…To measure side-effect experience, the response options were changed to the standard options of the General Assessment of Side-Effects Scale (Rief et al, 2009): not experienced (0), mild (1), moderate (2), and severe (3). As in prior research with the GASE (e.g., Fernandez et al, 2019;Doering et al, 2015;MacKrill et al, 2020;Rief et al, 2009), a side-effect intensity scale (M = 57.64; SD = 10.94) was created by summing item responses. As two of the COVID-19 vaccines that were available to the U.S. participants required two doses, whereas one vaccine required a single dose, in Survey 2 participants were instructed to report all side-effects they experienced from their entire vaccination experience (one or two doses).…”

Leprosy campaigns in Brazil: analysis of "Janeiro Roxo" impact using Google Trends.

“…We selected "HANSENÍASE" (with acute accent) due to the highest search volume in the period, compared to the others. The term "HANSENÍASE SINTOMAS" (leprosy symptoms) was tracked to estimate lay public interest concerning "self-diagnosis", as referred by literature [27][28]. We used "Brazil" as country and category "Health" to produce a 5 years' time series (08/26/2018 to 08/20/2023) with 261 weeks.…”