Physician Attitudes towards use of Digital Health Apps for Chronic Disease Self-management in Clinical Practice

Background: Despite evidence of effectiveness, few primary care providers (PCPs) are recommending digital health apps to support chronic disease management as part of routine practice. Methods: This study explores factors that influence PCP behaviours in recommending digital apps to patients. Study design included interviews with a deductive analysis, grounded in the Theoretical Domains Framework. PCPs were recruited from across Ontario. Results: Interviews from 15 participants resulted in four key themes. While participant’s wanted to use health apps with patients, a lack of knowledge, including knowledge of evidence, the quality of the current evidence and awareness of specific apps limited prescribing. Recommended interventions to increase use including curated lists, integration with the EMR, and peers supports. Conclusions: Our results suggest knowledge gaps are a key barrier to recommending apps, however this could be addressed using targeted interventions. Future work should explore patient attitudes towards the prescribing and use of apps.M.H.Sc