The Use of Smartphones for Health Research

Dorsey, E. Ray; Chan, Yu-Feng Yvonne; McConnell, Michael V.; Shaw, Stanley Y.; Trister, Andrew D.; Friend, Stephen H.

doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000001205

Cited by 150 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Of the 6,470 Baseline users, 6,023 and 2,520 participants responded to at least one daily and weekly survey, respectively. Total survey numbers collected in each month decreased over time ( Supplementary Table 3a ), consistent with an exponential decay function as observed in the other mobile health research studies 7 . To evaluate the impact of various factors on user retention patterns, we focused on a subset of 537 users from the Robust user cohort, who were enrolled in the study for more than 90 d and who provided data for all the covariates considered in the analysis.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

The Asthma Mobile Health Study, a large-scale clinical observational study using ResearchKit

et al. 2017

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The feasibility of using mobile health applications to conduct observational clinical studies requires rigorous validation. Here, we report initial findings from the Asthma Mobile Health Study, a research study, including recruitment, consent, and enrollment, conducted entirely remotely by smartphone. We achieved secure bidirectional data flow between investigators and 7,593 participants from across the United States, including many with severe asthma. Our platform enabled prospective collection of longitudinal, multidimensional data (e.g., surveys, devices, geolocation, and air quality) in a subset of users over the 6-month study period. Consistent trending and correlation of interrelated variables support the quality of data obtained via this method. We detected increased reporting of asthma symptoms in regions affected by heat, pollen, and wildfires. Potential challenges with this technology include selection bias, low retention rates, reporting bias, and data security. These issues require attention to realize the full potential of mobile platforms in research and patient care.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 87%

The Asthma Mobile Health Study, a large-scale clinical observational study using ResearchKit

et al. 2017

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“…User interaction with the MyHeart Counts app decreased significantly during the course of the study (appendix p 7), consistent with observations from studies of the mPower 27 Asthma Health apps, 28 and other studies which followed a similar erecruitment process. 29 In our cohort, only 493 individuals (17%) completed the full set of four assigned interventions. A subset of users did not open the app daily, resulting in missing data.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of digital physical activity interventions on daily step count: a randomised controlled crossover substudy of the MyHeart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study

Shcherbina

Hershman

Lazzeroni

et al. 2019

The Lancet Digital Health

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Background Smartphone apps might enable interventions to increase physical activity, but few randomised trials testing this hypothesis have been done. The MyHeart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study is a longitudinal smartphone-based study with the aim of elucidating the determinants of cardiovascular health. We aimed to investigate the effect of four different physical activity coaching interventions on daily step count in a substudy of the MyHeart Counts Study. Methods In this randomised, controlled crossover trial, we recruited adults (aged ≥18 years) in the USA with access to an iPhone smartphone (Apple, Cupertino, CA, USA; version 5S or newer) who had downloaded the MyHeart Counts app (version 2.0). After completion of a 1 week baseline period of interaction with the MyHeart Counts app, participants were randomly assigned to receive one of 24 permutations (four combinations of four 7 day interventions) in a crossover design using a random number generator built into the app. Interventions consisted of either daily prompts to complete 10 000 steps, hourly prompts to stand following 1 h of sitting, instructions to read the guidelines from the American Heart Association website, or e-coaching based upon the individual's personal activity patterns from the baseline week of data collection. Participants completed the trial in a free-living setting. Due to the nature of the interventions, participants could not be masked from the intervention. Investigators were not masked to intervention allocation. The primary outcome was change in mean daily step count from baseline for each of the four interventions, assessed in the modified intention-to-treat analysis set, which included all participants who had completed 7 days of baseline monitoring and at least 1 day of one of the four interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03090321. Findings Between Dec 12, 2016, and June 6, 2018, 2783 participants consented to enrol in the coaching study, of whom 1075 completed 7 days of baseline monitoring and at least 1 day of one of the four interventions and thus were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis set. 493 individuals completed the full set of assigned interventions. All four interventions significantly increased mean daily step count from baseline (mean daily step count 2914 [SE 74]): mean step count increased by 319 steps (75) for participants in the American Heart Association website prompt group (p<0·0001), 267 steps (74) for participants in the hourly stand prompt group (p=0·0003), 254 steps (74) for participants in the clusterspecific prompts group (p=0·0006), and by 226 steps (75) for participants in the 10 000 daily step prompt group (p=0·0026 vs baseline).Interpretation Four smartphone-based physical activity coaching interventions significantly increased daily physical activity. These findings suggests that digital interventions delivered via a mobile app have the ability to increase shortterm physical activity levels in a free-living cohort.

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“…So far, little is known about the impact and merit of this technology, but first results are promising when this method is used adequately [8]. Specifically the psychology [18,19] and epidemiology [20] fields, but also every other medical discipline, are hoping to benefit from this technology and gain new insights regarding prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases [11,21].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While some reasons may be individually motivated, a number of advantages drive this development. In particular, “[t]hese research apps enhance widespread participation by removing geographical barriers to participation, provide novel ways to motivate healthy behaviors, facilitate high-frequency assessments, and enable more objective data collection” [8] by collecting the data in a domestic setting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Modular Research Platform to Create Medical Observational Studies for Mobile Devices

et al. 2017

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BackgroundObservational studies have proven to be a valuable resource in medical research, especially when performed on a large scale. Recently, mobile device-based observational studies have been discovered by an increasing number of researchers as a promising new source of information. However, the development and deployment of app-based studies is not trivial and requires profound programming skills.ObjectiveThe aim of this project was to develop a modular online research platform that allows researchers to create medical studies for mobile devices without extensive programming skills.MethodsThe platform approach for a modular research platform consists of three major components. A Web-based platform forms the researchers’ main workplace. This platform communicates via a shared database with a platform independent mobile app. Furthermore, a separate Web-based login platform for physicians and other health care professionals is outlined and completes the concept.ResultsA prototype of the research platform has been developed and is currently in beta testing. Simple questionnaire studies can be created within minutes and published for testing purposes. Screenshots of an example study are provided, and the general working principle is displayed.ConclusionsIn this project, we have created a basis for a novel research platform. The necessity and implications of a modular approach were displayed and an outline for future development given. International researchers are invited and encouraged to participate in this ongoing project

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The Use of Smartphones for Health Research

Cited by 150 publications

References 11 publications

The Asthma Mobile Health Study, a large-scale clinical observational study using ResearchKit

The Asthma Mobile Health Study, a large-scale clinical observational study using ResearchKit

The effect of digital physical activity interventions on daily step count: a randomised controlled crossover substudy of the MyHeart Counts Cardiovascular Health Study

Development of a Modular Research Platform to Create Medical Observational Studies for Mobile Devices

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