Using mHealth for Primary Prevention of Dementia: A Proof-of-Concept Study on Usage Patterns, Appreciation, and Beliefs and Attitudes Regarding Prevention

Background: Health-and lifestyle factors account for a substantial part of all dementia cases,which opens the opportunity for primary prevention. However, the requiredbehavioral change is complex and involves targeting multiple risk factors.mHealth interventions can potentially contribute to improving motivation in alow-cost and scalable way. Objective: To explore usage patterns,appreciation, and beliefs and attitudes regarding dementia risk reductionduring the use of the MyBraincoach mobile app. Methods: Participants werecommunity-dwelling middle-aged adults from the Netherlands and used either thestandard (education) or extended (education+motivational triggers) app versionfor three months. Two panel studies were combined in this paper. Chi-squaretests, t-tests and linear mixed models were used, adjusted for age, sex, andeducation. Results: Of all participants (n = 299, 50.2% male), 167 (55.9%) hadinstalled the app. The most reported reason for non-use was technical problems(47%). Those who used the app were at baseline already more positive aboutdementia risk reduction than those who did not use the app. Of all users whocompleted the evaluation (n = 102), 78.4% (n = 80) stated that the app provideda positive approach towards brain health and 80.4% (n = 82) felt betterinformed. Younger (<60y) and lower educated participants evaluated the appmost positively. Conclusion: Usage of the app was low, but users showed morepositive beliefs and attitudes regarding dementia risk reduction. Most usersevaluated the app positively and stated to have gained knowledge on the topic.Improving the use of the app must keep high priority in future studies.