User Engagement With a Mobile Health App for People Living With HIV: Observational Study Based on an Engagement...

Area of Science:

• Digital health interventions
• HIV/AIDS research
• Patient engagement strategies

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) interventions offer potential for people with HIV, who are vulnerable to privacy breaches.
• Understanding user experiences is crucial for predicting mHealth app effectiveness.
• Engagement measurement and enhancement planning are vital during app development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate user engagement with a mHealth app using an engagement index and time.
• To analyze how participant characteristics influence engagement levels.

Main Methods:

• An observational study involving 261 people with HIV in South Korea over 4 weeks.
• Engagement assessed via an engagement index (click depth, loyalty, recency, feedback, interaction) and engagement time.
• Data collected through pre/post surveys and in-app usage metrics.

Main Results:

• Median engagement index was 67.6% and median engagement time was 27.2 minutes.
• A significant positive correlation (ρ=0.589) was found between engagement index and time.
• Higher engagement index was observed in participants involved in self-help groups (P=.01).

Conclusions:

• Comprehensive evaluation of mHealth apps requires tracking both objective and subjective user data.
• App design should prioritize user needs, including privacy, rewards, tailored content, and aesthetics.
• Targeted support may be beneficial for users not participating in self-help groups.