TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kouri, Andrew
AU  - Gupta, Samir
AU  - Straus, Sharon E
AU  - Sale, Joanna E M
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/8/22
TI  - Exploring the Perspectives and Experiences of Older Adults With Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Toward Mobile Health: Qualitative Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e45955
VL  - 25
KW  - older adults
KW  - mHealth
KW  - asthma
KW  - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
KW  - qualitative research
KW  - digital health
KW  - qualitative study
KW  - airway disease
KW  - barrier
KW  - health technology
KW  - interview
KW  - smartphone
KW  - airway
KW  - implementation
KW  - mobile phone
AB  - Background: The use of mobile health (mHealth) in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is growing, and as the population ages, a greater number of older adults stand to benefit from mHealth-enhanced airway disease care. Though older adults are a heterogeneous population of health technology users, older age represents a potential barrier to health technology adoption, and there is currently a lack of knowledge on how older age influences mHealth use in asthma and COPD. Objective: In this qualitative study, we sought to explore the experiences and perspectives of adults who were aged 65 years and older with asthma and COPD toward mHealth use. Methods: Semistructured individual interviews were conducted with adults who were aged 65 years and older with asthma or COPD and owned a smartphone. Applying phenomenological methodology, we analyzed interview transcripts in order to develop themes and propose an essential experience of mHealth use among older adults with airway disease. We then summarized our qualitative findings and proposed strategies to leverage our results in order to guide future research and implementation efforts targeting older adults’ use of airway mHealth. Results: Twenty participants (mean age 79.8, SD 4.4 years) were interviewed. Participants described a central tension between (1) the perception that mHealth could help maintain independence throughout aging and (2) an apprehension toward the ways in which mHealth could negatively affect established health care experiences. Several elements of these 2 themes are absent from previous research focusing on younger adults with asthma and COPD. The individual elements of these 2 themes informed potential strategies to optimize future older adults’ use of asthma and COPD mHealth tools. Conclusions: Focusing on the perspectives and experiences of older adults with asthma and COPD in their use of mHealth identified novel understandings of health technology use in this important demographic in need of greater care. These lessons were translated into potential strategies that will need to be objectively evaluated in future airway mHealth research, development, and implementation efforts. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e45955
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/45955
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37606961
DO  - 10.2196/45955
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/45955
ER  -