# Effectiveness of recommendations in promoting the use of mobile health applications in health guidance: a randomized controlled trial

## TL;DR

A study found that recommending mobile health apps during health guidance increased app usage and improved triglyceride levels in participants.

## Contribution

This study is the first to demonstrate that recommending mHealth apps based on individual goals in health guidance increases app adoption and improves cardiovascular markers.

## Key findings

- The intervention group had a significantly higher mHealth app usage rate (68.4%) compared to the control group (40.0%).
- The intervention group showed a significantly greater weekly frequency of mHealth app usage.
- After one year, the intervention group had significantly lower changes in triglyceride levels compared to the control group.

## Abstract

Objectives: Use of commercially available mobile health (mHealth) applications in supporting lifestyle improvements has become popular in recent years. However, the effectiveness of advice promoting the use of such applications based on individual behavioral goals in a health guidance setting remains unclear. This study explored how guiding participants of the Specific Health Guidance (SHG) program, a Japanese public health initiative to prevent cardiovascular disease, to use commercially available mHealth applications impacted their application usage, lifestyle habits, and cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group comparison study, 156 individuals with a history of SHG participation and who were engaged in the Motivational Health Guidance program (a type of SHG) in 2021 were assigned to intervention (n = 76) or control (n = 80) groups. Whereas both groups received standard guidance, the intervention group also received recommendations for mHealth applications based on their individual behavioral goals. The participants’ application usage, behavioral changes, and body weight were assessed after 3 months, with health checkup data evaluated after 1 year.

Results: The proportion of mHealth application users after 3 months was significantly higher in the intervention group (68.4%) than in the control group (40.0%). The intervention group also reported a significantly greater weekly frequency of mHealth application usage. Moreover, the intervention group reported a significantly decreased change in triglyceride levels after 1 year compared with the control group.

Conclusions: Recommending commercially available mHealth applications in a health guidance setting significantly increased the number of mHealth application users and their frequency of use.

Key points

Commercially available mobile health (mHealth) applications for lifestyle improvements have gained in popularity.However, in health guidance settings such as occupational health programs, the effectiveness of recommending available mHealth applications based on individual behavioral goals remains unclear.This study demonstrated that providing advice regarding mHealth applications for individual behavioral goals in a health guidance setting significantly increased the number of users of mHealth applications and their frequency of use, and improved participants’ triglyceride levels.The use of commercially available mHealth applications may enhance the effectiveness of health guidance programs, especially in environments with limited human and financial resources.

Commercially available mobile health (mHealth) applications for lifestyle improvements have gained in popularity.

However, in health guidance settings such as occupational health programs, the effectiveness of recommending available mHealth applications based on individual behavioral goals remains unclear.

This study demonstrated that providing advice regarding mHealth applications for individual behavioral goals in a health guidance setting significantly increased the number of users of mHealth applications and their frequency of use, and improved participants’ triglyceride levels.

The use of commercially available mHealth applications may enhance the effectiveness of health guidance programs, especially in environments with limited human and financial resources.