title: Development and Testing of the MyHealthyPregnancy App: A Behavioral Decision Research-Based Tool for Assessing and Communicating Pregnancy Risk.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite significant advances in medical interventions and health care delivery, preterm births in the United States are on the rise. Existing research has identified important, seemingly simple precautions that could significantly reduce preterm birth risk. However, it has proven difficult to communicate even these simple recommendations to women in need of them. Our objective was to draw on methods from behavioral decision research to develop a personalized smartphone app-based medical communication tool to assess and communicate pregnancy risks related to preterm birth.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  A longitudinal, prospective pilot study was designed to develop an engaging, usable smartphone app that communicates personalized pregnancy risk and gathers risk data, with the goal of decreasing preterm birth rates in a typically hard-to-engage patient population.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used semistructured interviews and user testing to develop a smartphone app based on an approach founded in behavioral decision research. For usability evaluation, 16 participants were recruited from the outpatient clinic at a major academic hospital specializing in high-risk pregnancies and provided a smartphone with the preloaded app and a digital weight scale. Through the app, participants were queried daily to assess behavioral risks, mood, and symptomology associated with preterm birth risk. Participants also completed monthly phone interviews to report technical problems and their views on the app's usefulness.
  
  
  RESULTS
  App use was higher among participants at higher risk, as reflected in reporting poorer daily moods (Odds ratio, OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99-1.47, P=.08), being more likely to smoke (OR 4.00, 95% CI 0.93-16.9, P=.06), being earlier in their pregnancy (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.02-1.12, P=.005), and having a lower body mass index (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.00-1.15, P=.05). Participant-reported intention to breastfeed increased from baseline to the end of the trial, t15=-2.76, P=.01. Participants' attendance at prenatal appointments was 84% compared with the clinic norm of 50%, indicating a conservatively estimated cost savings of ~US $450/patient over 3 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our app is an engaging method for assessing and communicating risk during pregnancy in a typically hard-to-reach population, providing accessible and personalized distant obstetrical care, designed to target preterm birth risk, specifically.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3416-2230
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krishnamurti
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0958-305X
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Gabrielle
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5207-7489
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wong-Parodi
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Baruch
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3030-6874
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fischhoff
authors.affiliation: Magee-Womens Research Institute, Department of OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.|Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Yoel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2969-6737
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sadovsky
authors.affiliation: Magee-Womens Research Institute, Department of OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Hyagriv N
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4267-2089
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Simhan
keywords: decision making; mhealth; pregnancy; premature birth