Using the iPod Touch for Patient Health Behavior Assessment and Health Promotion in Primary Care

BACKGROUND: There is a growing recognition of the importance of lifestyle behavior change for health promotion and disease prevention, as well as the concomitant influence of patient–physician communication on effective behavior change. Mobile technology is increasingly being recognized as an important and efficient tool to collect patients’ health behavior data and facilitate patient–physician communication. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of an iPod touch-based health behavior assessment (HBA) tool in enhancing patient–physician collaborative goal-setting for health promotion in primary care. METHODS: A total of 109 patients from three primary care clinics in central Texas completed a brief HBA, which was programmed on an iPod touch device. An instant feedback report was generated for the patient and their physician simultaneously to facilitate collaborative goal-setting. Within approximately 7 days of the HBA, the patients were phoned for a follow-up survey for their feedback on the iPod touch–based HBA and resultant patient–physician communication. RESULTS: Patients were able to complete an HBA on the iPod touch with ease. Among those who completed the follow-up survey (n=83), 30% (25/83) reported that their physicians discussed the HBA report with them, while 29% (24/83) established behavior change goals with them. More than 90% (75/83) of the patients reported positive experiences with the iPod touch–based HBA. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to use mobile tools for HBA in the primary care setting. The HBA also facilitated patient–physician communication on behavior change. However, more research is needed on the effectiveness of large scale dissemination of mobile-based HBA technology on health communication and behavior change for preventing or managing lifestyle-related chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, or heart diseases.