Search

Aim To verify the usefulness of a smartphone application (App) for facilitating self-care in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Background CHB is a global health problem, and patients with CHB need to routinely perform self-care. Health-related smartphone apps could help users self-manage their disease. Methods Fifty-three CHB patients were assessed in this randomized controlled before-and-after experimental study. The patients were randomly and equally assigned to groups that did (n = 26) or did not (n = 27) use the smartphone app for 12 weeks. The experimental and control groups were analyzed for differences in disease knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care before and after use of the smartphone app. Results After intervention, patients who used the app displayed significantly increased disease knowledge compared with the control group ( p = .015). Self-efficacy and self-care also significantly increased in the experimental group ( p = 0.006 and 0.001, respectively). Conclusion The smartphone app can be useful for increasing self-care in CHB patients. Abbreviations: App: application, CHB: chronic hepatitis B, CVI: content validity

This study aimed to develop a mobile application (app), for the selfmanagement performance of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). The mobile app was developed in five stages by analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. And 19 systems were modified. Mobile app for self-management performance of patients with CHB was developed. Developed a mobile app is expected to be helpful in managing self-management can be a disease-related knowledge and promote self-efficacy in CHB.