“Who needs an app? Fertility patients’ use of a novel mobile health app”

Objective The number of couples experiencing infertility treatment has increased, as has the number of women and men experiencing infertility treatment-related stress and anxiety. Therefore, there is a need to provide information and support to both men and women facing fertility concerns. To achiev...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Skye A Miner, Eden N Gelgoot, Alix Lahuec, Samantha Wunderlich, Darryl Safo, Felicia Brochu, Shrinkhala Dawadi, Stephanie Robins, Siobhan Bernadette, Laura O’Connell, Peter Chan, Carolyn Ells, Hananel Holzer, Kirk Lo, Neal Mahutte, Sophia Ouhilal, Zeev Rosberger, Togas Tulandi, Phyllis Zelkowitz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2022-05-01
Series:Digital Health
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221102248
Description
Summary:Objective The number of couples experiencing infertility treatment has increased, as has the number of women and men experiencing infertility treatment-related stress and anxiety. Therefore, there is a need to provide information and support to both men and women facing fertility concerns. To achieve this goal, we designed a mhealth app, Infotility, that provided men and women with tailored medical, psychosocial, lifestyle, and legal information. Methods This study specifically examined how fertility factors (e.g. time in infertility treatment, parity), socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. gender, education, immigrant status), and mental health characteristics (e.g. stress, depression, anxiety, fertility-related quality of life) were related to male and female fertility patients’ patterns of use of the Infotility app. Results Overall, the lifestyle section of the app was the most highly used section by both men and women. In addition, women without children and highly educated women were more likely to use Infotility. No demographic, mental health or fertility characteristics were significantly associated with app use for men. Conclusion This study shows the feasibility of a mhealth app to address the psychosocial and informational needs of fertility patients.
ISSN:2055-2076