TY  - JOUR
AU  - Hu, Lu
AU  - Wyatt, Laura C
AU  - Mohsin, Farhan
AU  - Lim, Sahnah
AU  - Zanowiak, Jennifer
AU  - Mammen, Shinu
AU  - Hussain, Sarah
AU  - Ali, Shahmir H
AU  - Onakomaiya, Deborah
AU  - Belli, Hayley M
AU  - Aifah, Angela
AU  - Islam, Nadia S
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/4/26
TI  - Characterizing Technology Use and Preferences for Health Communication in South Asian Immigrants With Prediabetes or Diabetes: Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e52687
VL  - 8
KW  - South Asian immigrants
KW  - type 2 diabetes
KW  - technology access
KW  - technology use
KW  - prediabetes
KW  - health disparities
KW  - mHealth
KW  - health equity
KW  - immigrant health
KW  - mobile health
KW  - smartphone
KW  - diabetes
KW  - diabetic
KW  - DM
KW  - diabetes mellitus
KW  - immigrants
KW  - prevention
KW  - regression
KW  - regression model
KW  - logistic regression
KW  - mobile health interventions
AB  - Background: Type 2 diabetes disproportionately affects South Asian subgroups. Lifestyle prevention programs help prevent and manage diabetes; however, there is a need to tailor these programs for mobile health (mHealth). Objective: This study examined technology access, current use, and preferences for health communication among South Asian immigrants diagnosed with or at risk for diabetes, overall and by sex. We examined factors associated with interest in receiving diabetes information by (1) text message, (2) online (videos, voice notes, online forums), and (3) none or skipped, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and technology access. Methods: We used baseline data collected in 2019-2021 from two clinical trials among South Asian immigrants in New York City (NYC), with one trial focused on diabetes prevention and the other focused on diabetes management. Descriptive statistics were used to examine overall and sex-stratified impacts of sociodemographics on technology use. Overall logistic regression was used to examine the preference for diabetes information by text message, online (videos, voice notes, or forums), and no interest/skipped response. Results: The overall sample (N=816) had a mean age of 51.8 years (SD 11.0), and was mostly female (462/816, 56.6%), married (756/816, 92.6%), with below high school education (476/816, 58.3%) and limited English proficiency (731/816, 89.6%). Most participants had a smartphone (611/816, 74.9%) and reported interest in receiving diabetes information via text message (609/816, 74.6%). Compared to male participants, female participants were significantly less likely to own smartphones (317/462, 68.6% vs 294/354, 83.1%) or use social media apps (Viber: 102/462, 22.1% vs 111/354, 31.4%; WhatsApp: 279/462, 60.4% vs 255/354, 72.0%; Facebook: Messenger 72/462, 15.6% vs 150/354, 42.4%). A preference for receiving diabetes information via text messaging was associated with male sex (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.63, 95% CI 1.01-2.55; P=.04), current unemployment (AOR 1.62, 95% CI 1.03-2.53; P=.04), above high school education (AOR 2.17, 95% CI 1.41-3.32; P<.001), and owning a smart device (AOR 3.35, 95% CI 2.17-5.18; P<.001). A preference for videos, voice notes, or online forums was associated with male sex (AOR 2.38, 95% CI 1.59-3.57; P<.001) and ownership of a smart device (AOR 5.19, 95% CI 2.83-9.51; P<.001). No interest/skipping the question was associated with female sex (AOR 2.66, 95% CI 1.55-4.56; P<.001), high school education or below (AOR 2.02, 95% CI 1.22-3.36; P=.01), not being married (AOR 2.26, 95% CI 1.13-4.52; P=.02), current employment (AOR 1.96, 95% CI 1.18-3.29; P=.01), and not owning a smart device (AOR 2.06, 95% CI 2.06-5.44; P<.001). Conclusions: Technology access and social media usage were moderately high in primarily low-income South Asian immigrants in NYC with prediabetes or diabetes. Sex, education, marital status, and employment were associated with interest in mHealth interventions. Additional support to South Asian women may be required when designing and developing mHealth interventions. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03333044; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03333044, ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03188094; https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03188094 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.1186/s13063-019-3711-y 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2024/1/e52687
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/52687
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38669062
DO  - 10.2196/52687
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/52687
ER  -