Abstract
Background: Electronic
screening and brief intervention (eSBI) is effective in reducing weekly
alcohol consumption when delivered by a computer. Mobile phone apps
demonstrate promise in delivering eSBI; however, few have been designed
with an evidence-based and user-informed approach.
Objective: This
study aims to explore from a user perspective, preferences for content,
appearance, and operational features to inform the design of a mobile
phone app for reducing quantity and frequency of drinking in young
adults engaged in harmful drinking (18-30 year olds).
Methods: Phase
1 included a review of user reviews of available mobile phone apps that
support a reduction in alcohol consumption. Apps were identified on
iTunes and Google Play and were categorized into alcohol reduction
support, entertainment, blood alcohol content measurement (BAC), or
other. eSBI apps with ≥18 user reviews were subject to a content
analysis, which coded praise, criticism, and recommendations for app
content, functionality, and esthetics. Phase 2 included four focus
groups with young adults drinking at harmful levels and residing in
South London to explore their views on existing eSBI apps and
preferences for future content, functionality, and appearance. Detailed
thematic analysis of the data was undertaken.
Results: In
Phase 1, of the 1584 apps extracted, 201 were categorized as alcohol
reduction, 154 as BAC calculators, 509 as entertainment, and 720 as
other. We classified 32 apps as eSBI apps. Four apps had ≥18 user
reviews: Change for Life Drinks Tracker, Drinksmeter, Drinkaware, and
Alcohol Units Calculator. The highest proportion of content praises were
for information and feedback provided in the apps (12/27, 44%),
followed by praise for the monitoring features (5/27, 19%). Many (8/12,
67%) criticisms were for the drinking diary; all of these were related
to difficulty entering drinks. Over half (18/32, 56%) of functionality
criticisms were descriptions of software bugs, and over half of those
(10/18, 56%) were for app crashing or freezing. Drinksmeter and Alcohol
Units Calculator were the most highly praised apps overall (23/57 and
22/57; 39% of praise overall). In Phase 2, two main themes were
identified. The meaningfulness theme reflected how young adults thought
apps needed to be tailored to the interests and values of their age
group, particularly emphasizing content and feedback around broader
health and well-being factors such as exercise, diet, and image. The
community theme suggested that young adults want to be able to engage
with other app users, both in groups of friends and with online users
for motivation and support.
Conclusions: Targeted and relevant information and feedback, in addition to easy-to-use monitoring tools, were found to be important features of a mobile phone app to support a reduction in drinking. Future app development should consider tailoring all app aspects to the needs of young adults, considering broader well-being monitoring tools and online community functions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | e47 |
| Journal | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 24 May 2016 |
Access to Document
- User Preferences for Content, Features_MILWARD_Accepted 3Jan2016_GOLD VoR
©Joanna Milward, Zarnie Khadjesari, Stephanie Fincham-Campbell, Paolo Deluca, Rod Watson, Colin Drummond. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 24.05.2016. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mhealth and uhealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.