• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.7-26
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• 2016

The present study aimed at investigating the strengths and weaknesses of a mobile personal health record (PHR) application and identifying its impacts on consumer health information behavior. For the study, twenty-seven college students used a PHR application for three months, based on which the study conducted paper-based interviews with them. The results of content analysis highlighted the benefits of the PHR such as supporting preventive healthcare and motivating and providing specific guidelines for healthy lifestyles by utilizing visual interface design, sharing the data with family and assisting caregivers to manage patients' healthcare, and above all enhancing the interaction between patients and healthcare professionals. However, the study found the drawbacks of the PHR such as a lack of data entry for strength training and the incompatibility with other healthcare applications. The participants were motivated to change their health behaviors in ways such as getting rid of sleep disorders, avoiding alcohol and smoking tobacco, and losing weight, and changing eating habits. Some consumers improved self-efficacy by changing their health behaviors, while the PHR provided emotional supports to the consumers who wanted to improve their health. The present study has an academic significance because the study of PHR is a burgeoning area in Korea. The study provides insights for promoting health and medical information services to cope with the paradigm shift of healthcare fields.