Smartphone applications for seizure care and management in children and adolescents with epilepsy: Feasibility and acceptability assessment among caregivers in China

- Most of caregivers had smart moble phone in china.
- Most of caregivers had positive attitudes toward smart phone apps for seizure management.
- In China, the use of smart phone apps could be a promising strategy for seizure management.

Objectiveto determine the feasibility as well as the attitudes among caregivers of children and adolescents with epilepsy in China towards the use of smart phone applications (apps) for the management of seizures.MethodsThe caregivers of children and adolescents with epilepsy, ages ranging from 0 to 15 years, were enrolled in the study from the Epilepsy Prevention and Cure Center of West China Hospital within the time period from June 2015 to December 2015. A 10-item questionnaire gauging the attitudes towards using apps for seizure management was administered to the 390 caregivers. Additionally, data on the demographic and clinic characteristics of the children and adolescents with epilepsy for each caregiver were also collected.ResultsThe results indicated that approximately 99.2% of caregivers own a mobile phone, of which, 97.9% of these mobile phones were smart phones. Despite only 3.1% (12/390) of caregivers currently having an app regarding the management of a chronic illness, 70.2%(274/390) reported that they would use a free seizure management app. The results of the current study indicated that the likelihood of using such a free app increased if the participant was a male as opposed to a female (P = 0.03) and among caregivers with a higher education level, a higher annual household income as well as stable job (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.02). No statistically significant difference was found in the likelihood of using such a free app among caregivers living in rural as opposed to urban areas (P = 0.3).ConclusionsThe results of this study imply a favorable attitude towards the use of apps for epilepsy and seizure management among caregivers. The use of such apps in China thus represents a promising strategy among caregivers for seizure management.