Assessment of mobile phone applications for care management in gynecology and obstetrics

Acceptability of Gynecologic e-Health Modalities by Hispanic/Latina Women of Reproductive Age

Introduction

Electronic health (e-Health) modalities effectively address healthcare access limitations; however, there are limited data on their adoption by Hispanic/Latina women who are disproportionally affected by health disparities.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study by disseminating an anonymous electronic questionnaire via social media to assess the perception of Hispanic/Latina women of reproductive age regarding facilitators and barriers for using e-Health modalities, including telemedicine and mobile apps, to monitor gynecologic health.

Results

The questionnaire was completed by 351 Hispanic/Latina participants with high levels (98.3%) of advanced technological expertise. Current use of a gynecologic mobile app was reported by 63.8%, primarily for menstruation (85.1%) and ovulation (46.3%) tracking. While only 17.6% of participants were offered the option of a gynecologic consultation via telemedicine, the majority (90.5%) would agree to one. Higher education and advanced technological expertise correlated with acceptance of telemedicine for gynecological consults. Being younger (<29 y/o), a student, not having a preferred gynecologist and having a lower income significantly correlated with gynecologic mobile app acceptability.

Conclusions

We showed that e-Health modalities are highly acceptable for Hispanic/Latina women of reproductive age to facilitate gynecological care and documented factors that are significantly associated with e-Health acceptability. These findings are relevant to public health emergencies that cause access to care limitations disproportionally affecting this already underserved population.

Use of a Smart-Phone Mobile Application is Associated With Improved Compliance and Reduced Length of Stay in Patients Undergoing Primary Total Joint Arthroplasty of the Hip and Knee

BACKGROUND

Patient compliance with perioperative protocols is paramount to improving outcomes and reducing adverse events in total joint arthroplasty (TJA) of the hip and knee. Given the widespread use of smartphones, mobile applications (MAs) may present an opportunity to improve outcomes in TJA. We aim to determine whether the use of a mobile application platform improves compliance with standardized pre-operative protocols and outcomes in TJA.

METHODS

A non-randomized, prospective cohort study was conducted in adult patients undergoing primary elective TJA to determine whether the use of an MA with timed reminders starting 5 days pre-operatively, to perform a chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) shower and oral hydration protocol improves compliance with these protocols.

OUTCOME MEASURES

compliance, length of stay (LOS), surgical site infection (SSI), 90-day readmission.

RESULTS

App-users had increased adherence to the hydration protocol (odds ratio [OR] = 3.17 [95% confidence interval {CI} = 1.42, 7.09: P = .003]). App-use was associated with shorter LOS (Median Interquartile ranges [IQR] 2.0 days [1.0, 2.0 days]) for App-users vs 2.0 days ([1.0, 3.0] for non-App users, P = .031), younger age, (63.3 vs 67.9 years, P = .0001), Caucasian race (OR = 3.32 [95% CI = 1.59, 6.94 P = .0009]) and male gender (48.2% vs 35.0%, P = .02). There was no difference in adherence to chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), readmission, or surgical site infection (SSI) (2.2% App-users vs 2.9% non-App users; P = .74).

CONCLUSION

Use of a mobile application was associated with increased compliance with a hydration protocol and reduced LOS. App-users were more likely to be younger, male and Caucasian. These disparities may reflect inequity of access to the requisite technology and warrant further study.