The use of mobile health methods to manage chronic diseases has mixed effectiveness depending on how it is used.
Many clinicians are using mHealth tools to help patients manage their chronic diseases and reduce costs. However, approximately 56 percent of cases showed significant improvement in patient adherence in a survey of studies from 1980 to May 2014, according to an article in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Only 40 percent showed significant improvements in clinical outcomes, according to the report.
Currently, only 50 percent of patients with chronic conditions adhere to management recommendations, so any advances in mHealth can help improve adherence, according to the report. The researchers were optimistic about the potential benefits of using mHealth for adherence, but noted that lack of adherence may be due to lack of access and language and literacy barriers.
"Further evaluation of adherence tools will be critical, especially research that informs how these tools overcome barriers to chronic disease management," the researchers wrote in the report. "More innovation, optimization and high-quality research in adherence has the potential to transform the promise of mHealth technology into the reality of improved health care delivery and outcomes."