Mobile Health in China: A Review of Research and Programs in Medical Care, Health Education, and Public Health

Abstract

There are nearly 1 billion mobile phone subscribers in China. Health care providers, telecommunications companies, technology firms, and Chinese governmental organizations use existing mobile technology and social networks to improve patient-provider communication, promote health education and awareness, add efficiency to administrative practices, and enhance public health campaigns. This review of mobile health in China summarizes existing clinical research and public health text messaging campaigns while highlighting potential future areas of research and program implementation. Databases and search engines served as the primary means of gathering relevant resources. Included material largely consists of scientific articles and official reports that met predefined inclusion criteria. This review includes 10 reports of controlled studies that assessed the use of mobile technology in health care settings and 17 official reports of public health awareness campaigns that used text messaging. All source material was published between 2006 and 2011. The controlled studies suggested that mobile technology interventions significantly improved an array of health care outcomes. However, additional efforts are needed to refine mobile health research and better understand the applicability of mobile technology in China's health care settings. A vast potential exists for the expansion of mobile health in China, especially as costs decrease and increasingly sophisticated technology becomes more widespread.

Smart Health Facilitator: Chinese Consumers’ Perceptions and Interpretations of Fitness Mobile Apps

“…Although a couple of previous studies (Corpman, 2013;Li et al, 2014) discussed some societal and environmental conditions of mHealth penetration in the context of China, the current study supplemented the previous literature by uncovering the possible societal consequences of mobile fitness apps from the perspectives of Chinese consumers.…”

“…This includes studies of health education, medication adherence, and appointment reminders (Corpman, 2013), the use of mobile technologies to extend health services to rural areas (Ni, Wu, Samples, & Shaw, 2014), and the use of mHealth for mental illness (Zhang, Song, & Bai, 2013). However, much of this research is yet to catch up with the rapid proliferation of smartphones across Asia.…”

Promoting awareness of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder among health professionals and the public through nursing faculty champions

“…[10] Studies have confirmed that mobile technology interventions significantly improved an array of health care outcomes such as self-management behavior in Chinese populations. [16] WeChat is one of the most popular social media platforms worldwide, with more than 0.54 billion users in China and worldwide. It offers a free instant messaging application for Smartphones that enable the exchange of voice, text, pictures, videos, and location information via mobile phone indexes.…”

A cross-sectional study to assess the feasibility of a short message service to improve adherence of outpatients undergoing sedation gastrointestinal endoscopy in the People’s Republic of China

“…In 2011, the number of mobile phone subscribers in the People’s Republic of China was more than 940 million. During the same period, more than 575 billion text messages were sent 7. The Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China is encouraging a greater role of mobile technology in assisting with health education in rural and community public health clinics 7.…”

“…During the same period, more than 575 billion text messages were sent 7. The Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China is encouraging a greater role of mobile technology in assisting with health education in rural and community public health clinics 7. However, there are few studies that focus on the pre-conditions of mobile phone ownership, text messaging usage, and patients’ attitudes about receiving text messages when implementing an SMS intervention in Chinese hospitals.…”