Effect of a mHealth programme on coronary heart disease prevention among working population in Singapore: A single group pretest–post‐test design

Aim The aim of this study was to develop and examine the effectiveness of a 4‐week Mobile Health (mHealth) programme using the smartphone app Care4Heart on awareness, knowledge, perceived stress, and a heart‐related lifestyle among working population in Singapore. Design A quasi‐experimental single group pretest and repeated post‐test design. Methods A total of 160 nonhealth‐related working adults were recruited from February 2016–April 2016. The Care4Heart app was installed on the participants’ phones. Outcome measures, including the Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire‐2, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the Perceived Stress Scale were collected online at baseline, 4th week, and 6th month from baseline. Results Compared with the baseline, the participants had significantly higher total mean scores for awareness and knowledge of coronary heart disease (CHD) after study intervention at 4 weeks and 6 months from baseline. However, there were no significant differences in perceived stress levels and heart‐related lifestyle behaviours before and after the intervention. Conclusions The study contributed some evidence that the mHealth app helped to improve awareness and knowledge of CHD. Impact Coronary heart disease remains one of the major causes of death and disability. It imposes a heavy financial burden on working adults. However, working adults were less able to identify the risk factors and adopt healthy lifestyles due to gaps in knowledge and awareness. This study demonstrated some effects of a mHealth programme in improving awareness and knowledge of CHD among the working population. mHealth provides a potential avenue for primary prevention of CHD. 目的 本研究的目的是利用智能手机应用程序Care4Heart开发和检验为期4周的移动健康(mhealth)计划对新加坡工作人口的认知、知识、感知压力和与心脏相关的生活方式的有效性。 设计 准实验单组试验前和重复试验后设计。 方法 从2016年2月至2016年4月共招募了160名非健康相关工作人员。Care4Heart应用程序安装在参与者的手机上。在基线、第4周和自基线起第6个月在线收集结果测量,包括心脏病事实问卷‐2、行为风险因素监测系统和感知压力量表。 结果 与基线相比,在研究干预4周和自基线起6个月后,受试者对冠心病(CHD)的认知和知识的总平均分显著高于基线。然而,干预前后感知到的压力水平和与心脏相关的生活方式行为没有显著差异。 结论 该研究提供了一些证据,证明mHealth应用程序有助于提高对冠心病的认识和知识。 影响 冠心病仍然是导致死亡和残疾的主要原因之一。这给成年人工作者带来了沉重的经济负担。然而,由于知识和意识上的差距,成年人工作者无法识别危险因素并采取健康的生活方式。