Abstract

The aim of the present study was to explore perceptions of the Digital Twin (a three-dimensional digital representation of an anatomical body) on a mobile health application, and the potential mechanisms that are important for behaviour change, with a focus on health and weight management. An explorative and participant-led approach was taken using semi-structured online interviews to explore the experiences of people, in this case non-users and users wanting to independently manage their health. An opportunity sample of forty participants from the United Kingdom (20 who had not used digitally assistive technology and 20 who had) were recruited from social media platforms (22 females and 18 males; mean age was 30). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Thematic Analysis. Two main themes were elicited: Initiators of behaviour change (i.e., autonomous choices, social influences, and personalisation) and Barriers to behaviour change (i.e., adverse reactions, weight management norms and negative attitudes). Overall, it was suggested that the Digital Twin should be representative of a user’s personalised health information and BMI. These results can inform an intervention designed to use the Digital Twin to initiate and maintain lifestyle behaviour change. It can also develop our understanding of how such technology can be applied as a tool for health management.

摘要

本研究的目的是探索数字孪生（解剖身体的三维数字表示）在移动健康应用程序中的感知，以及对行为改变很重要的潜在机制，重点是健康和体重管理。采用探索性和参与者主导的方法，使用半结构化的在线访谈来探索人们的体验，在这种情况下，非用户和想要独立管理自己健康的用户。从社交媒体平台（22 名女性和 18 名男性；平均年龄为 30 岁）招募了来自英国的 40 名参与者（20 名未使用数字辅助技术，20 名使用过）的机会样本。访谈被逐字转录并使用主题分析进行分析。引出了两个主要主题：行为改变的发起者（即自主选择、社会影响和个性化）和行为改变的障碍（即不良反应、体重管理规范和消极态度）。总体而言，有人建议数字孪生应该代表用户的个性化健康信息和 BMI。这些结果可以为旨在使用数字孪生启动和维持生活方式改变的干预措施提供信息。它还可以加深我们对如何将此类技术用作健康管理工具的理解。