TY - JOUR
T1 - Needs and views on healthy lifestyles for the prevention of dementia and the potential role for mobile health (mHealth) interventions in China
T2 - a qualitative study
AU - Zhang, Jinxia
AU - Eggink, Esmé
AU - Zhang, Xiaoyu
AU - Li, Xingming
AU - Jiang, Bin
AU - Liu, Hongmei
AU - Ge, Siqi
AU - Zhang, Wei
AU - Lyu, Jihui
AU - Niu, Yixuan
AU - Yu, Yueyi
AU - Hou, Haifeng
AU - Xu, Xizhu
AU - Ye, Xiaoyan
AU - Wang, Wenzhi
AU - Terlou, Ruben
AU - Richard, Edo
AU - PRODEMOS consortium
AU - Wang, Wei
AU - Wang, Youxin
AU - Moll van Charante, Eric P.
AU - Song, Manshu
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (Number 779 238) and the National Key R&D Programme of China (2017YFE0118800). Publisher Copyright: ©
PY - 2022/11/22
Y1 - 2022/11/22
N2 - OBJECTIVES: Over the coming decades, China is expected to face the largest worldwide increase in dementia incidence. Mobile health (mHealth) may improve the accessibility of dementia prevention strategies, targeting lifestyle-related risk factors. Our aim is to explore the needs and views of Chinese older adults regarding healthy lifestyles to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dementia through mHealth, supporting the Prevention of Dementia using Mobile Phone Applications (PRODEMOS) study. DESIGN: Qualitative semi-structured interview study, using thematic analysis. SETTING: Primary and secondary care in Beijing and Tai'an, China. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults aged 55 and over without dementia with an increased dementia risk, possessing a smartphone. Participants were recruited through seven hospitals participating in the PRODEMOS study, purposively sampled on age, sex, living area and history of CVD and diabetes. RESULTS: We performed 26 interviews with participants aged 55-86 years. Three main themes were identified: valuing a healthy lifestyle, sociocultural expectations and need for guidance. First, following a healthy lifestyle was generally deemed important. In addition to generic healthy behaviours, participants regarded certain specific Chinese lifestyle practices as important to prevent disease. Second, the sociocultural context played a crucial role, as an important motive to avoid disease was to limit the care burden put on family members. However, time-consuming family obligations and other social values could also impede healthy behaviours such as regular physical activity. Finally, there seemed to be a need for reliable and personalised lifestyle advice and for guidance from a health professional. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese older adults included in this study highly value a healthy lifestyle. They express a need for personalised lifestyle support in order to adopt healthy behaviours. Potentially, the PRODEMOS mHealth intervention can meet these needs through blended lifestyle support to improve risk factors for dementia and CVD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN15986016; Pre-results.
AB - OBJECTIVES: Over the coming decades, China is expected to face the largest worldwide increase in dementia incidence. Mobile health (mHealth) may improve the accessibility of dementia prevention strategies, targeting lifestyle-related risk factors. Our aim is to explore the needs and views of Chinese older adults regarding healthy lifestyles to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) and dementia through mHealth, supporting the Prevention of Dementia using Mobile Phone Applications (PRODEMOS) study. DESIGN: Qualitative semi-structured interview study, using thematic analysis. SETTING: Primary and secondary care in Beijing and Tai'an, China. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults aged 55 and over without dementia with an increased dementia risk, possessing a smartphone. Participants were recruited through seven hospitals participating in the PRODEMOS study, purposively sampled on age, sex, living area and history of CVD and diabetes. RESULTS: We performed 26 interviews with participants aged 55-86 years. Three main themes were identified: valuing a healthy lifestyle, sociocultural expectations and need for guidance. First, following a healthy lifestyle was generally deemed important. In addition to generic healthy behaviours, participants regarded certain specific Chinese lifestyle practices as important to prevent disease. Second, the sociocultural context played a crucial role, as an important motive to avoid disease was to limit the care burden put on family members. However, time-consuming family obligations and other social values could also impede healthy behaviours such as regular physical activity. Finally, there seemed to be a need for reliable and personalised lifestyle advice and for guidance from a health professional. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese older adults included in this study highly value a healthy lifestyle. They express a need for personalised lifestyle support in order to adopt healthy behaviours. Potentially, the PRODEMOS mHealth intervention can meet these needs through blended lifestyle support to improve risk factors for dementia and CVD. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN15986016; Pre-results.
KW - dementia
KW - primary care
KW - public health
KW - qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142478199&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061111
DO - https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-061111
M3 - Article
C2 - 36414280
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
SP - e061111
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 11
M1 - e061111
ER -