One-third of patients look to phone for health info
The trend among patients to use smartphone applications as healthcare aids continues to grow, according to research published Nov. 8 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Cellphone ownership has extended to 85 percent of adults and more more than half of them are using smartphones, according to Pew Internet Project Sssociate Director Susannah Fox and Research Assistant Maeve Duggan. Approximately one-third have used their phones to look for health information compared with 17 percent two years ago and one-fifth of smartphone owner use an app to help manage their health.
Based on a survey of 3,014 adults conducted from Aug. 7 to Sept. 6, researchers determined that individuals using health apps are more likely to be:
- Female (23 percent of females versus 16 percent of males);
- Affluent (23 percent of individuals from households earning more than $75,000 annually versus 14 percent of individuals from households earning less than $30,000 annually);
- College educated (22 percent of college graduates versus 11 percent of high school graduates); and;
- Young (42 percent of individuals aged 18 to 19 versus 19 percent of individuals aged 50 to 64 and 9 percent of individuals aged 65 and up).
The most widely used apps were fitness related (38 percent), diet related (31 percent) and weight related (12 percent). Caregivers, those with chronic conditions, those who recently experienced medical crises and those who recently experienced significant health changes were also more likely to use apps than their counterparts, although the differences were not always statistically significant. Additionally, while four-fifths of cellphone users reported texting, only 9 percent reported texting for health purposes.
The complete survey results is available on the Pew Internet website.