App use
pain
Among intervention group participants, most (75.3%) reported using the app (Figure Responses to App usefulness overall and by function among intervention participants (Patients' reported usefulness varied by distinct functions of the app. Overall, among those who used the app, 45.7% reported the app useful. The most used app function was tracking emotion, pain, and sleep (65.8%), and among those who used this function, more than half found it useful (51.9%). The least used app function was creating a personal profile for their documents, health insurance information and prescription (63.3% reported that they never used it), and only 27.8% of those who used this function found it useful. Other app functions, such as dashboard and upcoming appointment reminders, were more commonly used and rated as useful by 46.3% and 43.8% of users (Figure Among specific reasons for using the app, over 40% of the participants agreed that the app helped them better understand their treatment and overall health, and to organize health care including appointments, medications, and information related to the treatment. On the other hand, over 75% of the participants reported that a barrier to using the app was a personal preference for communicating with friends and family directly in person or over the phone instead of with an app. About a third of the participants cited the complexity of the app (36.4%) and privacy concerns (30.8%) as barriers to using the app (Figure Perceived benefits and barriers for using App among intervention participants (Among a total of 42 free‐text responses for questions about the reasons and impacts of using the app, about a quarter mentioned that using it to track appointments and notes (26.8%) and track their daily symptoms and moods (24.4%) was beneficial. For example, one participant noted that: “The app helped me to keep track of my symptoms and allowed me to share with my doctor on my visits.” Another participant responded that the app: “…helped me to see how many bad days against good days.” Respondents (11.9%) specifically pointed out that the app provided them with motivation. One participant noted that: “The diary and the appointment notes are my favorite features in the app and the daily affirmations.” Some (9.5%) reported that the app was convenient to use. One participant wrote: “My husband could get my phone and pull up all my meds when I wasn't feeling like taking them during my chemo.”Several participants (39.9%) reported not using the app due to their busy schedules, use of other similar apps, not being an app user in general, and some concerns with the usability of the app. For example, a participant noted “It would be helpful for me and would help my friend and family understand and stay updated. I was unable to utilize the app in that manner because some people were concerned about downloading the app.” Another participant wrote: “I work full time from home. The additional effort required for inputting all that data into the app was not something that I wanted to do. Just didn't have the energy.”