Journal article

Health benefits and cost-effectiveness from promoting smartphone apps for weight loss: Multistate life table modeling

C Cleghorn, N Wilson, N Nair, G Kvizhinadze, N Nghiem, M McLeod, T Blakely

Jmir Mhealth and Uhealth | JMIR PUBLICATIONS, INC | Published : 2019

Open access

Abstract

Background: Obesity is an important risk factor for many chronic diseases. Mobile health interventions such as smartphone apps can potentially provide a convenient low-cost addition to other obesity reduction strategies. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the impacts on quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained and health system costs over the remainder of the life span of the New Zealand population (N=4.4 million) for a smartphone app promotion intervention in 1 calendar year (2011) using currently available apps for weight loss. Methods: The intervention was a national mass media promotion of selected smartphone apps for weight loss compared with no dedicated promotion. A multistate ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Grants

Awarded by Health Research Council of New Zealand


Funding Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation & Employment (project number UOOX1406). The authors are supported by the Burden of Disease Epidemiology, Equity and Cost Effectiveness (BODE3) Programme, which is studying the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of various preventative interventions and has received and receives funding support from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (Project numbers 10/248 and 16/443). The funding bodies had no role in the design of the study; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; or in writing the manuscript.