What kind of a mobile health app do patients truly want? A pilot study among ambulatory surgery patients

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of surgeries are performed as ambulatory surgeries, and mobile health applications (m-health apps) have therefore been designed to help provide patients with more convenient health-care services and improve the working efficiency of health-care professionals (HCPs). To find an effective approach to design such m-health apps, a study to evaluate ambulatory surgery patients’ preferences is necessary. Methods: A structured questionnaire was distributed to 360 patients undergoing ambulatory surgery to understand their demographic characteristics, preferences regarding the features and functions of m-health apps and willingness to engage with m-health apps. Results: In total, 84.16% of ambulatory surgery patients stated that they would be willing to engage with an m-health app during the perioperative period. In addition, their top 10 necessary features and functions of m-health apps were related mainly to ambulatory surgery and communication with HCPs. Furthermore, younger age (χ2=10.42, p<0.01), employment (χ2=9.04, p<0.01), higher education (χ2 =13.67, p<0.01), longer daily use of phones (χ2=11.84, p<0.01) and more frequent usage of m-health apps (χ2=23.23, p<0.01) were associated with patients’ willingness to engage with m-health apps, but only more frequent usage of m-health apps (OR=2.97, 95% CI=1.54–5.71, p<0.01) was found to be a predictor. Conclusion: This study presents an initial evaluation of ambulatory surgery patients’ preferences regarding m-health apps. Gaining these insights will be useful to help us design an evidence-based, highly functional m-health app that best meets the needs of patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.