Association of mobile health (mHealth) use with health status and COVID-19-related concerns by people with mobility impairments.
Rebecca E Lee, Bin C Suh, Alicia O'Neal and 5 others
PMID 36645738WHAT IT FOUND
Two thirds of adults with mobility impairments used smartphone health tools.
Use was more common among those with higher education. Clinicians should not assume all patients can access or use app-based care.
Key findings
01201 of 304 participants were mobile health users.
02mHealth use was associated with higher household education, and after adjustment having a college degree remained associated (OR=8.18, 95% CI=2.84-23.55).
03Participants with high blood pressure were more likely to use mHealth (17.9% vs. 8.7%), and those with chronic lung conditions were less likely (15.4% vs. 29.1%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Participants were recruited mainly through social media and community referrals, so they may not represent all adults with mobility impairments. The sample was mostly Caucasian (68.8%) and lived in a city or large town (62.7%), so findings may not apply to indigenous groups, people of color, or underserved communities. The survey required a working phone or computer with internet access, so people with the least access may have been excluded. Data were self-reported and collected in June 2020, so the study cannot show that mHealth use caused better access, lower concern, or health improvement. Only mobile platform use was measured, not other web-based services, home-based services, or other tracking devices. The paper reports some associations with pandemic-related difficulties but also states no overall differences in COVID-19 concerns, so the pandemic-concern finding is unclear.
Declared interests
All authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume app-based care is accessible or effective for all patients with mobility impairments. This was a survey of people who already had phone or internet access, and it did not test whether mobile health use improved health.