Use of Weight-Management Mobile Phone Apps in Saudi Arabia: A Web-Based Survey

Abstract

Background In recent years, the use of mobile phone weight-management apps has increased significantly. Weight-management apps have been found effective in promoting health and managing weight. However, data on user perception and on barriers to app usage are scarce. Objective This study aimed to investigate the use of weight-management apps and barriers to use as well as reasons for discontinuing use in a sample of mobile phone users in Saudi Arabia. Methods Mobile phone users aged 18 years and above from the general public in Saudi Arabia completed a Web-based survey. The survey included questions on weight-management app usage patterns, user perceptions concerning weight management, efficacy of weight-management apps, and reasons for discontinuing use. Participants were classified into normal weight (body mass index [BMI]: 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m 2 ) and overweight or obese (BMI: ≥25.0 kg/m 2 ). Results The survey included 1191 participants; 513 of them used weight-management apps. More overweight or obese respondents used these apps compared with normal weight respondents (319/513, 62.2% vs 194/513, 37.8%, respectively). App features that overweight or obese users were most interested in were mainly the possibility to be monitored by a specialist and barcode identification of calorie content, whereas normal weight users mostly preferred availability of nutrition information of food items. Reasons for discontinuing use among overweight or obese respondents were mainly that monitoring by a specialist was not offered (80/236, 33.9%) and the app was not in the local language (48/236, 20.3%). Among normal weight users, the main reason for noncontinuance was the app language (45/144, 31.3%) and difficulty of use (30/144, 20.8%). Conclusions To better address the needs of both normal weight and overweight or obese adults, improved app designs that offer monitoring by a specialist are needed. Developers may consider ways of overcoming barriers to use, such as language, by developing local language apps, which can improve the efficacy of such apps and help spread their use.

Barriers to and facilitators for using nutrition apps: a scoping review and conceptual framework (Preprint)

“…Furthermore, in seven publications, some (ex-)users reported that their motivation to use apps may decline over time [25,29,37,43]. Potential reasons for this might be limited progression [47] or boredom [40,42], e.g., because the app only provides a limited range of functionalities [56].…”

“…Furthermore, app users appreciated the opportunity to view a history of tracked data without visiting a medical doctor, or having the opportunity to send data to health professionals remotely [38]. Similarly, users in Aljuraiban [37] were more likely to discontinue use if monitoring by a specialist was not offered.…”

“…Independent of the specific feature, participants in eleven publications underlined that features should be customizable and tailored to individual needs and goals [37,38,43,48,50,52,53].…”

“…Participants criticized that apps were too confusing, complex and stressful, both when setting them up [42,44] and when using them [26,29,37,40,42,44,47,50,52,56], e.g., because of lengthy instructions [42]. For instance, participants in Gowin et al [44] stated that they would not download apps that required lengthy instructions.…”

“…Some participants, however, said that they might be willing to pay some money for the app if it was good and provided a good price value [44,57]. Furthermore, some participants criticized hidden costs (e.g., for enabling additional app features) [37], which may lead to disengagement [29]. Thus, financial costs might need to be low and made transparent to promote nutrition app use.…”