Development and Content Structure Evaluation of a Wearable-Integrated Mobile Application Prototype for Preterm Birth Risk Prevention: A Pilot Study

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a wearable-integrated mobile application prototype for preterm birth risk prevention and to preliminarily evaluate the appropriateness of its content structure and user satisfaction among pregnant women.Methods: A pilot user evaluation study was conducted with 17 community-dwelling pregnant women between 20 and 37 weeks of gestation. Participants used a prototype mobile application integrated with a wearable smart band, Mi Band 7. The application included content on obstetric characteristics, pregnancy stress, preterm birth risk assessment, and QuiPP (quantification of uterine contractions in preterm prediction)-related information. The smart band was used to collect biometric data, with heart rate data included in the present analysis. Preterm birth risk and pregnancy stress were measured using validated short-form scales. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients.Results: The mean scores for preterm birth risk and pregnancy stress were 10.06±5.02 and 21.35±5.24, respectively. Preterm birth risk was significantly associated with pregnancy stress, r=0.579, p=0.015, supporting the inclusion of pregnancy stress in the application content. No significant associations were found between actual preterm birth and preterm birth risk or pregnancy stress. User satisfaction scores were 3.57±1.27 for the application content and 4.15±0.80 for the smart band.Conclusion: The wearable-integrated mobile application prototype demonstrated preliminary acceptability as an eHealth-based self-monitoring tool for preterm birth risk prevention. Further iterative and longitudinal studies with larger samples are needed to refine the application, validate its predictive potential, and expand it into an artificial intelligence-based personalized nursing intervention.