Withdrawn Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Conference 2023

A cross-sectional Australian study of pregnant individual's decision making, trust and assessment of app quality and safety during pregnancy (#246)

Bonnie R Brammall 1 , Melanie J Hayman 2 , Cheryce L Harrison 1
  1. Monash Centre for Research and Implementation, Monash University, Clayton, Vic, Australia
  2. Appleton Institute, School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

Health-related mobile applications (apps) have the potential to improve health knowledge and promote healthy behaviours during pregnancy. Pregnancy-related apps can provide tailored health and weight gain monitoring, nutritional guidance, exercise recommendations, risk awareness, and mental health support, potentially helping individuals manage the unique challenges of pregnancy. Pregnancy apps are popular, and extensively used by consumers. The aim of this study was to investigate how pregnant individuals in Australia source pregnancy-related health information, use pregnancy apps, and what influences app use and their evaluation of the information within apps. An online survey was completed by 427 current-or-recently pregnant individuals, aged 18 or over and located in Australia. Overall, 62.3% were currently pregnant, and 37.7% had given birth or been pregnant within six-months. Medical practitioners were the primary source of pregnancy-related health information, followed by reputable internet sources (government information, medical websites or peer-reviewed literature), and pregnancy apps were the third most common source. Pregnancy apps were considered to be a trustworthy source of information by 63.8% of respondents and the majority used apps during pregnancy (94.2%). Of those who used pregnancy-related apps (n=325), information being safe and trustworthy was their top priority when selecting an app. However, 35.5% (n=115) had encountered information in an app they felt was unsafe or conflicted with previous knowledge or advice. Only 4.6% (n=15), were aware that health-related apps are not screened for accurate information/undergo quality assurance checks before being made available to download. If provided with a guide to evaluate app quality, 74.6% (n=241) would utilise the tool. These findings highlight a need to promote the critical assessment of health information within pregnancy apps and to develop resources to support consumers in doing so.