- Health contents using mobile apps show improved health behavior and reduced health risk factors

- It is expected to ease the medical gap between regions and classes, including vulnerable groups who have difficulty using private health care services

In the "ICT-based Health Center Chronic Disease Management Service Empirical Research (Research Institute: Gyemyeong University Industry-Academic Cooperation Group)" promoted by the Korea Health Promotion Development Institute (Director Kim Heon-joo), physical activity contents for health management of high blood pressure, diabetes, and complex diseases developed by Professor Hwang Moon-hyun's team at Incheon National University's Department of Exercise and Health were installed on mobile and used in nine health centers last year.

While one-fifth of the nation spends nearly 8 trillion won each year for high blood pressure and diabetes patients, the rate of high blood pressure and diabetes control remains low at 47.6% and 24.1%, which is still insufficient. In order to strengthen chronic disease management at the national level, this study was promoted to alleviate the medical gap between regions and classes and to provide public chronic disease management services centered on the local community by providing services for the sick in conjunction with the 'Health Center Mobile Healthcare' project. 

The research team led by Professor Hwang Moon-hyun of Incheon National University developed "physical activity contents for health care of high blood pressure, diabetes, and complex diseases" based on the experience of developing 12-week physical activity programs for hypertension and diabetes patients and distributing them to 258 public health centers nationwide in September 2022.

The 'physical activity contents for health management of people with high blood pressure, diabetes, and complex diseases' developed by Professor Hwang Moon-hyun's team at Incheon National University consist of card news and exercise videos. For a total of 24 weeks, card news is provided on a mobile basis tailored to chronic diseases for physical activity life rules to be practiced weekly. In addition, the exercise video is based on aerobic exercise, flexibility exercise, and resistance exercise, so that you can watch and follow customized exercise videos for each disease through mobile once a week.

Last year, the Korea Health Promotion Development Institute's "ICT-based Health Center Chronic Disease Management Service Empirical Research" provided physical activity content through a mobile app, and made it possible to use a service that can record individual health information by linking counseling services by health center experts and activity meters (smart bands).

According to a research findings report published by the Korea Health Promotion Agency, improvement of at least one health behavior (indicators: aerobic physical activity practice rate, walking practice rate, low salt preference rate, nutritional labeling reading rate, breakfast practice rate) in 81.4% of participating patients, reduction of health risk factors (indicators: blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, waist circumference, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol) in 49.8%, reduction of both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in 44.3%, and reduction of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in 48.5% of patients with diabetes and diabetes-hypertension combined disease. 

Professor Hwang Moon-hyun said, "The results of this empirical study have shown very beneficial results in improving the health behavior of participants and reducing health risk factors," and emphasized that health content using mobile apps could be an alternative to alleviate the medical gap between regions and classes, such as vulnerable groups who have difficulty using private health care services.

Professor Hwang Moon-hyun, Department of Exercise and Health, Incheon National University