We selected 204 participants with PD between 52 and 87 years old and surveyed their attitudes concerning the use of smartphone apps for chronic condition management via questionnaires.
Among the participants, 65.19% had smartphones. Among these smartphone users, 82.84% expressed a preference for using apps for PD management. This group tended to be younger and more frequent web users with higher education and better medication compliance, and they tended to have a longer PD course and worse conditions (P < 0.001, P = 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.041, P < 0.001, P = 0.013). Additionally, the willingness to apply apps for PD self-management was positively related to education (P < 0.001) and negatively related to age and PD course (P = 0.017, P < 0.001).
In China, patients with PD have a generally positive attitude towards self-management through smartphone apps. Consequently, improving the coverage of smartphones with practical and handy apps is a promising strategy for PD self-management.