Patient Smartphone Ownership and Interest in Mobile Apps to Monitor Symptoms of Mental Health Conditions: A Survey in Four Geographically Distinct Psychiatric Clinics

Abstract

BackgroundDespite growing interest in mobile mental health and utilization of smartphone technology to monitor psychiatric symptoms, there remains a lack of knowledge both regarding patient ownership of smartphones and their interest in using such to monitor their mental health.ObjectiveTo provide data on psychiatric outpatients’ prevalence of smartphone ownership and interest in using their smartphones to run applications to monitor their mental health.MethodsWe surveyed 320 psychiatric outpatients from four clinics around the United States in order to capture a geographically and socioeconomically diverse patient population. These comprised a state clinic in Massachusetts (n=108), a county clinic in California (n=56), a hybrid public and private clinic in Louisiana (n=50), and a private/university clinic in Wisconsin (n=106).ResultsSmartphone ownership and interest in utilizing such to monitor mental health varied by both clinic type and age with overall ownership of 62.5% (200/320), which is slightly higher than the average United States’ rate of ownership of 58% in January 2014. Overall patient interest in utilizing smartphones to monitor symptoms was 70.6% (226/320).ConclusionsThese results suggest that psychiatric outpatients are interested in using their smartphones to monitor their mental health and own the smartphones capable of running mental healthcare related mobile applications.

Patients’ perspectives about the design of a mobile application for psychotic disorders

“…Nowadays, more patients own smartphones and are interested to use them to monitor their health (Torous, Chan, et al, 2014;Torous, Friedman, & Keshavan, 2014). According to Ben-Zeev and colleagues (2013) advanced technologies can support self-management of mental illnesses, but to be feasible they need to be designed addressing real requirements and specific preferences of their final user.…”

Information and Communication Technologies Interest, Access, and Use: Survey of a Community Sample of Urban, Predominantly Black Women (Preprint)

“…Studies specifically examining interest in ICT for behavioral health education or intervention have reported variable results. Tourus and colleagues found that approximately half of patients (49%) recruited from four psychiatric clinics across the U.S. reported accessing general health information via smartphone in the previous 6 months, but 71% reported interest in using a smartphone to monitor mental health symptoms [36]. In contrast, Sharpe and colleagues found that only 29% of persons living with HIV who were recruited from five clinical sites in Florida reported interest in using a cell phone app to selfmanage drinking, though there were significant differences based on respondents' drinking levels, with those with hazardous drinking being more likely to express interest [37].…”

New Frontiers in Healthcare and Technology: Internet-and Web-Based Mental Options Emerge to Complement In-Person and Telepsychiatric Care Options

“…Uptake of apps has generally been slow in MH, as MH organizations were not eligible to receive federal start-up funding for IT infrastructure. Mobile apps offer 1) portability for access anytime, anywhere, regardless of patient geography and transportation barriers; 2) an inexpensive option versus traditional desktop computers; and 3) additional features (e.g., context-aware interventions and sensors [65] with real-time feedback. MH app demand is high across censusdesignated areas, generations, and, to a degree, age, with less use by older adults [65].…”

“…Mobile apps offer 1) portability for access anytime, anywhere, regardless of patient geography and transportation barriers; 2) an inexpensive option versus traditional desktop computers; and 3) additional features (e.g., context-aware interventions and sensors [65] with real-time feedback. MH app demand is high across censusdesignated areas, generations, and, to a degree, age, with less use by older adults [65]. Text messaging may be higher in urban areas [66] than rural areas [67].…”