The increasing penetration of internet across the world is one of the key factors responsible for the surge in the demand for mobile health (mHealth) technology. Due to the development of affordable 3G and 4G spectrum and numerous mobile applications, the number of mobile phone users is soaring in several countries.
The rising prevalence of various lifestyle-associated diseases and ailments and rapidly growing population are the other important factors pushing the demand for mhealth technology across the globe. Since the last few years, there has been a huge growth in the number of integrated mobile applications and connected medical devices and these have significantly boosted the adoption of mobile health technology. mHealth allows the doctors to diagnose the patients and provide them personalised treatment plans with the help of effective data capturing, visualization, and analysis provided by the integrated mobile applications.
Out of the connected devices, mHealth apps, and services, the mHealth provided by the connected devices registered the highest adoption in 2017 and this trend is expected to continue during the forecast period as well. This is mainly attributed to the numerous advantages provided by these connected devices (blood pressure monitors, ECG monitors, pulse oximeters, sleep apnea monitors, multiparameters, and blood glucose monitors) such as real-time disease management, rising number of remote monitoring applications, enhanced patient outcomes, and low cost of patient care and treatment.
Globally, North America recorded the highest adoption of mHealth technology in, owing to the presence of a huge geriatric population, high incidence of chronic diseases, huge healthcare spending, and easier customer accessibility to connected medical devices in the region. Asia-Pacific (APAC), on account of the surging geriatric population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, and skyrocketing healthcare investments, is expected to observe the fastest growth in the utilization of mHealth technology during the forecast period. The surging geriatric population propels the demand for remote monitoring devices, thereby driving the growth of the mHealth market in the region.
Therefore, it can be concluded that owing to the rising geriatric population levels in several countries, increasing occurrence of chronic diseases, and the growing number of internet and smartphone users, the demand for mHealth technology will increase rapidly over the next few years.
