Apps don't work for healthcare.

dhjamieson

Hi, I thought this was interesting. Or if you can't be bothered reading it in Nature here's a write up from The Guardian. In a nutshell it says myfitnesspal among other apps users use for their health aren't particularly effective.
I like MFP, it's worked for me, and obviously i'll keep using it, just interested in what other people think about the study.

AnvilHead

Nothing is effective if you don't put in the effort yourself.

Don't expect apps to do the work for you, use them as they were intended to be used.

Lounmoun

It seems that in the case of calorie counting apps like my fitness pal a lot of the study group stopped using it after a month.
It is a tool. Obviously it won't help someone lose weight if they do not actually use it. A treadmill won't help you lose weight if you use it for a coat rack after a month either.

I use MFP and have for about 4 years now. It has been helpful to me for managing my weight and improving my health.
I don't use a lot of apps. The other health app I use is Migraine Buddy which I find useful for seeing what triggered my migraines or the frequency. It didn't stop me having migraines but I have a better idea of what to avoid or what helps manage them for me.

rheddmobile

Well, my blood work says the opposite of that.

orangegato

There are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

The Laing 2014 study that showed MFP was supposedly ineffective and not statistically significant in weight loss compared to "usual care" noted that compliance w/ the app was quite poor after the 1st month w/ a significant drop out rate. The high attrition rate is likely because the patients were prescribed/given the app to use, instead of willingly choosing to use the app. In such a heterogenous group, one would expect to see a range of individuals who were highly motivated to those who weren't. I don't think there was a followup study showing the weight loss results among those who were compliant w/ tracking using the MFP app for the full 6 months.

TL;DR: what @AnvilHead said

rheddmobile

Having read both articles, the Guardian article is misleading and does not say what the study actually says. The study (which is a meta study, in other words just a comparison of existing studies, not original
research) says that there have been too few studies about whether apps work, and that there need to be more studies. It does not in any way say that they have been studied and found not to work. Not sure why the Guardian article is so false.

In particular, as has been mentioned, the supposed study which found that using MFP did not work, found that none of the people in the study actually used MFP. They got the app then never used it after a month. Of course that doesn't work.

AnvilHead

rheddmobile wrote: »

Having read both articles, the Guardian article is misleading and does not say what the study actually says. The study (which is a meta study, in other words just a comparison of existing studies, not original
research) says that there have been too few studies about whether apps work, and that there need to be more studies. It does not in any way say that they have been studied and found not to work. Not sure why the Guardian article is so false.

Same reason most mainstream media articles are so false and sensationalist - clickbait for advertising revenue. They're not interested in truth or accuracy, they're interested in making people click on the article. More clicks = more $$$.

kommodevaran

The idea that a tool "works" is hilarious.

Aaron_K123

Yeah I pulled up the MFP app on my phone and rubbed it on my gut and nothing happened.

AnvilHead

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Yeah I pulled up the MFP app on my phone and rubbed it on my gut and nothing happened.

That's because you didn't have your macros set for keto.

mabearof6

Geesh... MFP is a tool. You actually have to have the commitment and motivation to do the work.

LivingtheLeanDream

AnvilHead wrote: »

Nothing is effective if you don't put in the effort yourself.

Don't expect apps to do the work for you, use them as they were intended to be used.

^^ well said.

100_PROOF_

You can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink.
People gotta put in the work in order to be successful. An app alone won't do it. They must want it bad enough to work for it.
Besides I don't believe 99% of the stuff the media puts out anyway. I'm not that easily convinced.

Fuzzipeg

In my view MFP is not just an aid to counting calories its much more than this. I've been kicking around for some time and learned some, disagree with some, most of all met some wonderful people. An app is what you want it to be.

Fuzzipeg

In addition to the above. This app is not working to add the food items I want to log today, nor did it want to play yesterday, so probably, if I did not just need confirmation of what I've been doing I would be up the creek without a paddle.

tbright1965

Aaron_K123 wrote: »

Yeah I pulled up the MFP app on my phone and rubbed it on my gut and nothing happened.

Years ago, I watched a VHS video called "Flatter Stomach for Men" every night, while sitting on the sofa eating chips and salsa. It didn't work.

GottaBurnEmAll

Lounmoun wrote: »

It seems that in the case of calorie counting apps like my fitness pal a lot of the study group stopped using it after a month.
It is a tool. Obviously it won't help someone lose weight if they do not actually use it. A treadmill won't help you lose weight if you use it for a coat rack after a month either.

I use MFP and have for about 4 years now. It has been helpful to me for managing my weight and improving my health.
I don't use a lot of apps. The other health app I use is Migraine Buddy which I find useful for seeing what triggered my migraines or the frequency. It didn't stop me having migraines but I have a better idea of what to avoid or what helps manage them for me.

I didn't know there was an app for migraines!

Off to the app store!

stevephi01

I've been trying to work out why on earth such a study was even conducted, my cynical side leans towards money.

This morning on British TV there was a news piece which was about childhood obesity - apparently the children here get weighed twice in their school 'lives', so the solution is to now weigh the younger children every year. I'm sorry if I missed this approach to addressing the problem. All I can see is - we have a problem and we are being seen as doing something about it.

Gym memberships, slimming clubs etc are already prescribed and like apps, new running shoes, a bike etc are all as effective as each other when not used, so why prescribe an app?

Possibly justification for getting a 'medical grade' app, with accountability and links to the medical systems - but why the need for yet another one? To get in on the revenue stream and to get the justification, existing systems have to be dismissed as useless.
Sell it into the health system who's only current solution is to weigh kids and can't do anymore, get it approved by health insurance systems so when it is prescribed they get a cut etc.

The part that saddens me is when such reports come out and main stream media descend on them like vultures, picking out the bits that suit them to give the 'impression' that apps like MFP are no good, plays into the hands of those who will find any excuse not to put any effort into managing their health.

Like everyone in this thread, I've derived great benefit from using this site.

serindipte

Hammers don't work for putting nails in, either. (If you don't pick it up and use it appropriately)

mabelgrex

click bait