Table 4.
Barriers to and facilitators of the use of mobile health (mHealth) apps identified in the semistructured interview study (N=117).
| Questions and answers | n (%) | ||
| Q1. What barriers would prevent the adoption and integration of a mHealth App into your health monitoring and management? | |||
|
|
Price of mobile apps. I only use free mobile health apps. | 78 (66.7) | |
| The app sends my data to a remote server without my permission. | 73 (62.4) | ||
| The app asks me to provide my personal information even when I just want to determine whether the app is good for me. | 71 (60.7) | ||
| The app does not encrypt my personal data. | 69 (59.0) | ||
| The app runs slowly even though my mobile device is a recent model. | 67 (57.3) | ||
| The app does not have clear privacy statements about how it handles my personal data. | 59 (50.4) | ||
| The app stores my personal data on my mobile device and makes the data easily accessible to anyone who can access my mobile device. | 58 (49.6) | ||
| The app sends me several alerts each day. | 56 (47.9) | ||
| Name of mobile app. For instance, I do not use an app where the name implies that I have a certain disease. | 48 (41.0) | ||
| Price of mobile app. I only use mobile health apps costing less than $5. | 26 (22.2) | ||
| The app asks me to set up an account with user name and password. | 14 (12.0) | ||
| Other (eg, The app has two-factor authentication. The app requires social network login.) | 3 (2.6) | ||
| Q2. What security measures would give you confidence that an mHealth app would protect the confidentiality of patient data? | |||
|
|
Explicit encryption on data stored on my mobile device and the data transmitted to a remote server. | 96 (82.1) | |
| User authentication. | 96 (82.1) | ||
| Remote removal of my personal data on a lost mobile device. | 96 (82.1) | ||
| Access control. | 92 (78.6) | ||
| Easy-to-understand privacy policy which clearly indicates that my personal data are well protected. | 91 (77.8) | ||
| Data transmission via a secure channel. | 74 (63.2) | ||
| Easily adjustable security settings for different types of data. | 74 (63.2) | ||
| All health care providers’ data access activities are logged and can be audited. | 70 (59.8) | ||
| One unique account for each patient and each health care provider. | 67 (57.3) | ||
| Regular password update. | 51 (43.6) | ||
| Q3. What specific privacy policies of an mHealth app would encourage you to use the app for your own health care purpose? | |||
|
|
Your data will NOT be shared with any unauthorized personnel. | 98 (83.8) | |
| Your data will be collected only if you give permission to the app. | 94 (80.3) | ||
| Your data will be removed from the server if you request it. | 93 (79.5) | ||
| You have the right to terminate the permission for data collection at any time. | 90 (76.9) | ||
| Your data will be collected only for health care and/or research purposes. | 78 (66.7) | ||