A Novel App-Based Mobile Health Intervention for Improving Prevention Behaviors and Cardiovascular Disease Knowledge

mHealth apps can promote behavior change to prevent heart disease. This study examined the efficacy of an 8-week theory-based mHealth intervention to promote heart disease preventive behaviors. The BaseMetrics app was designed using the Health Belief Model to improve users’ understanding of heart disease and its risk factors to promote behavior change. In this proof-of-concept intervention with no control group, twenty-two participants (14F/8M; age 51 ± 8 years) received access to the BaseMetrics app for 8 weeks. Biological, behavioral, and self-assessed heart disease risk and knowledge were measured pre- and post-intervention. At post-intervention, significant improvements were seen in self-reported fruit and vegetable intake (+1.1 servings/day) and skin carotenoids (+28 a.u.). Self-tracked activity decreased (−665 steps/day). No other outcomes were significantly different. Non-significant improvements with small-to-moderate effect sizes were observed in triglycerides, energy expenditure, knowledge, perceived risk, and perceived benefits of diet and exercise. Conversely, non-significant deteriorations with small-to-moderate effect sizes were observed for total cholesterol, LDL, and AST. This study yielded preliminary findings suggesting the benefits of the BaseMetrics mobile app for heart disease prevention. The results must be validated in a larger randomized controlled trial.