title: Evaluation of a smartphone application for self-care performance of patients with chronic hepatitis B: A randomized controlled trial.
abstract: To verify the usefulness of a smartphone application (App) for facilitating self-care in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).
  
  
  
  CHB is a global health problem, and patients with CHB need to routinely perform self-care. Health-related smartphone apps could help users self-manage their disease.
  
  
  
  Fifty-three CHB patients were assessed in this randomized controlled before-and-after experimental study. The patients were randomly and equally assigned to groups that did (n=26) or did not (n=27) use the smartphone app for 12weeks. The experimental and control groups were analyzed for differences in disease knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-care before and after use of the smartphone app.
  
  
  
  After intervention, patients who used the app displayed significantly increased disease knowledge compared with the control group (p=.015). Self-efficacy and self-care also significantly increased in the experimental group (p=0.006 and 0.001, respectively).
  
  
  
  The smartphone app can be useful for increasing self-care in CHB patients.
  
  
  
  App: application, CHB: chronic hepatitis B, CVI: content validity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Semyung University, Jecheon, Chungbuk 390-711, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: anesjjh@naver.com.
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Jeon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012648:Self Care; D000068997:Smartphone
keywords: Application; Hepatitis B; Self-care; Smartphone