Survey: Only 18% of Americans use mHealth apps

HealthMine

Today, 64% of Americans own a smartphone, but a much smaller number say they would use mobile apps to track their health, according to the latest HealthMine survey. Only 18% of 1,200 respondents representative of the general US population say they like to learn health, wellness and lifestyle information through a mobile app.

In contrast, consumers with diabetes and pre-diabetes are more engaged in mobile solutions to manage their health, with 45% of them using mobile devices or apps to track their disease; 42% of those with diabetes or pre-diabetes use mobile blood sugar monitors and 39% use mobile blood pressure monitors to track their disease.

The conclusion is that mHealth is still far from broad engagement, unless you are sick.

42% of those with diabetes or pre-diabetes use mobile blood sugar monitors and 39% use mobile blood pressure monitors to track their disease.“Many people do not engage in health until they are sick. But taking action then can be too little too late,” said Bryce Williams, CEO and President of HealthMine. “Today, people can be constantly connected to their health, but they are not. Mobile devices and applications, when integrated tightly into a wellness program, can actually help prevent chronic disease.”

Another HealthMine research of 561 consumers (fielded in March/April 2015) revealed that 83% of consumers do not know their blood-glucose level. While 29 million Americans have diabetes, 8 million are unaware of their condition. What’s more, 86 million Americans (more than one out of three) have pre-diabetes — or above normal blood-glucose levels that, left untreated, cause a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The latest HealthMine survey was fielded by Survey Sampling International (SSI) in August 2015. The margin of error is 4%.