Evaluation of a smartphone application for self-care performance of patients with chronic hepatitis B: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To verify the usefulness of a smartphone application (App) for facilitating self-care in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

BACKGROUND: CHB is a global health problem, and patients with CHB need to routinely perform self-care. Health-related smartphone apps could help users self-manage their disease.

METHODS: Fifty-three CHB patients were assessed in this randomized controlled before-and-after experimental study. The patients were randomly and equally assigned to groups that did (n=26) or did not (n=27) use the smartphone app for 12weeks. The experimental and control groups were analyzed for differences in disease knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care before and after use of the smartphone app.

RESULTS: After intervention, patients who used the app displayed significantly increased disease knowledge compared with the control group (p=.015). Self-efficacy and self-care also significantly increased in the experimental group (p=0.006 and 0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSION: The smartphone app can be useful for increasing self-care in CHB patients.

ABBREVIATIONS: App: application, CHB: chronic hepatitis B, CVI: content validity.