Explorando o conhecimento sobre aplicações digitais de saúde e estilo de vida: um estudo observacional transversal numa farmácia comunitária

Abstract

The healthcare area is constantly developing, with the main goal of improving the quality of life of users and providing faster assistance, with technology development contributing significantly to this achievement. There are increasingly more applications for smartphones and smartwatches that help each individual take care of their own health, their lifestyle, and allow closer contact between users/caregivers and healthcare professionals, which is fundamental for proper monitoring, namely for users with chronic diseases. In this context, we conducted a cross-sectional observational study. The same was done at a community pharmacy, Farmácia Silveira do Alegro Sintra, where a survey was carried out among users, with the aim of understanding what knowledge the population has about digital applications related to health and lifestyle, as well as whether they use them on a daily basis and trust the information provided by them. The questionnaire also involved questions about communication made through technological means and social networks between the population and healthcare professionals, as well as whether there were changes after COVID-19, in which the majority felt that there was an increase after the pandemic. The majority (85 % and 62,9 % respectively) of the surveyed population said they knew about applications that enables to control their health and lead to a healthier lifestyle, however, only 20 % are unaware of applications related to adherence to medication. Only 14 of the 40 respondents use life-style applications in their daily lives, and 42,9 % of those using these applications believe in the information they receive from the applications and feel comfortable sharing it with all healthcare professionals. Respondents feel that digital applications can be relevant to certain pathologies, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, cholesterol and mental heath, as well as to help with lifestyle and adherence to treatment. Overall, this study showed that technology may play a fundamental role in healthcare, helping to improve the quality of life of patients. However, there are still details to improve in the future. For future studies, it is recommended to conduct a similar study in different locations and even one specifically targeted at diabetic individuals. Key-words: Applications, user empowerment, digital health, mobile health, telehealth

Date of Award	2023
Original language	Portuguese
Supervisor	João Pedro Bernardo Gregório (Supervisor)