Justine Karduck and Karen Chapman-Novakofski

Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Smartphone applications (apps) are widely used to track health behaviors, however little research has focused on how clinicians use apps in patient care. The Clinician Apps Survey (CAS) was developed to survey clinicians (Registered Dietitian Nutritionists Certified Diabetes Educators, and Registered Nurses) on their current utilization of health-related apps. The CAS contained 3 domains of questions (Smartphone Apps Use, Behavior Theory in Counseling Sessions, Clinician Demographics) to explore the frequency, types, preferred features, benefits, barriers of using apps, counseling techniques used in patient sessions, and clinician demographics.  After recruitment through 4 dietetics and diabetes professional groups, 718 began and 583 clinicians completed the online survey.  Most were female (95%), and provided education and counseling for patients with Overweight/Obesity (78%), Type 1 Diabetes (70%), Type 2 Diabetes (85%), or Prediabetes (75%). While 94% still recommend pen/paper methods to record diet or physical activity, 85% also recommend apps.  Most agreed apps were superior to traditional methods at helping patients track dietary intake (88%), physical activity (83%), making better food choices (72%), and losing weight (64%). Further, 52% agreed that apps help patients’ better control blood glucose but only 33% agreed that they were better at managing medications.  Apps most frequently recommended to clients were MyFitness Pal (n=425); Calorie King (n=385); and FitBit (n=312). Apps are being widely used in patient education settings for self-monitoring and food selection.  Furthermore, many clinicians believe that patient outcomes are better using apps compared to traditional methods.