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. 2022 Mar 9;4:794908. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2022.794908

Table 3.

Smartphone apps expectations and concerns by age class.

Total 18–24 years 25–34 years 35–44 years 45–54 years 55–64 years 65 years or over Global p-value
A B C D E F
What are your main expectations from mobile health apps?
N = 1,529 N = 102 N = 337 N = 350 N = 306 N = 265 N = 169
Assessing of your physical activity 836 (54.7%) 65 (63.7%) 194 (57.6%) 218 (62.3%) 164 (53.6%) 122 (46.0%) 73 (43.2%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class E F E F E F A B C A B C
Monitoring your energy intake 430 (28.1%) 34 (33.3%) 95 (28.2%) 112 (32.0%) 83 (27.1%) 68 (25.7%) 38 (22.5%) 0.181
Significant difference with other age class
Weight loss monitoring 577 (37.7%) 49 (48.0%) 154 (45.7%) 140 (40.0%) 116 (37.9%) 76 (28.7%) 42 (24.9%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class E F E F E F F A B C A B C D
Maintaining/improving your health 502 (32.8%) 35 (34.3%) 102 (30.3%) 116 (33.1%) 107 (35.0%) 92 (34.7%) 50 (29.6%) 0.702
Significant difference with other age class
Monitoring your sleep 474 (31.0%) 52 (51.0%) 115 (34.1%) 119 (34.0%) 94 (30.7%) 65 (24.5%) 29 (17.2%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class B C D E F A F A F A F A A B C D
Assessing the quality of your food 698 (45.7%) 50 (49.0%) 151 (44.8%) 168 (48.0%) 140 (45.8%) 127 (47.9%) 62 (36.7%) 0.195
Significant difference with other age class
A meditation tool 272 (17.8%) 22 (21.6%) 62 (18.4%) 66 (18.9%) 55 (18.0%) 47 (17.7%) 20 (11.8%) 0.362
Significant difference with other age class
Weight maintenance monitoring 240 (15.7%) 12 (11.8%) 50 (14.8%) 61 (17.4%) 42 (13.7%) 47 (17.7%) 28 (16.6%) 0.549
Significant difference with other age class
Period or pregnancy tracking 216 (14.1%) 48 (47.1%) 92 (27.3%) 64 (18.3%) 12 (3.9%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class B C D E F A C D E F A B D E F A B C E F A B C D A B C D
No expectations 120 (7.8%) 4 (3.9%) 17 (5.0%) 8 (2.3%) 27 (8.8%) 34 (12.8%) 30 (17.8%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class F E F D E F C F B C A B C D
Monitoring a chronic condition 82 (5.4%) 4 (3.9%) 15 (4.5%) 19 (5.4%) 23 (7.5%) 15 (5.7%) 6 (3.6%) 0.427
Significant difference with other age class
Weight gain monitoring 81 (5.3%) 8 (7.8%) 17 (5.0%) 25 (7.1%) 15 (4.9%) 8 (3.0%) 8 (4.7%) 0.245
Significant difference with other age class
What are your main concerns about using health–related mobile apps?
N = 1,529 N = 102 N = 337 N = 350 N = 306 N = 265 N = 169
The frequency of adverts 713 (46.6%) 56 (54.9%) 154 (45.7%) 171 (48.9%) 142 (46.4%) 119 (44.9%) 71 (42.0%) 0.370
Significant difference with other age class
Protection of your personal data 566 (37.0%) 22 (21.6%) 112 (33.2%) 140 (40.0%) 127 (41.5%) 94 (35.5%) 71 (42.0%) 0.002
Significant difference with other age class C D F A A A
Lack of reliability 362 (23.7%) 37 (36.3%) 118 (35.0%) 77 (22.0%) 65 (21.2%) 43 (16.2%) 22 (13.0%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class C D E F C D E F A B A B A B A B
Location tracking 311 (20.3%) 19 (18.6%) 66 (19.6%) 91 (26.0%) 60 (19.6%) 46 (17.4%) 29 (17.2%) 0.080
Significant difference with other age class
The need to create a personal account 282 (18.4%) 20 (19.6%) 64 (19.0%) 66 (18.9%) 45 (14.7%) 54 (20.4%) 33 (19.5%) 0.574
Significant difference with other age class
Too time–consuming 251 (16.4%) 17 (16.7%) 50 (14.8%) 57 (16.3%) 55 (18.0%) 55 (20.8%) 17 (10.1%) 0.082
Significant difference with other age class
Poorly designed interface 220 (14.4%) 20 (19.6%) 60 (17.8%) 58 (16.6%) 41 (13.4%) 35 (13.2%) 6 (3.6%) <0.001
Significant difference with other age class F F F F F A B C D E
Does not meet your needs 201 (13.1%) 26 (25.5%) 48 (14.2%) 36 (10.3%) 38 (12.4%) 36 (13.6%) 17 (10.1%) 0.003
Significant difference with other age class C D F A A A
Not useful 160 (10.5%) 14 (13.7%) 38 (11.3%) 30 (8.6%) 29 (9.5%) 27 (10.2%) 22 (13.0%) 0.514
Significant difference with other age class

Global p-value, when significant; Age classes, Significant difference with other age classes; N = number of participants per age class.