Barriers to Postdischarge Smartphone App Use Among PatientsWith Traumatic Rib Fractures

Rib fractures commonly result from traumatic injury and often require hospitalization for pain control and supportive pulmonarycare. Although the use of mobile health technology to share patient-generated health data has increased, it remains limited inpatients with traumatic injuries. We sought to assess the feasibility of mobile health tracking in patients with rib fractures byusing a smartphone app to monitor postdischarge recovery. We encountered patient, institutional, and process-related obstaclesthat limited app use. The success of future work requires the acknowledgment of these limitations and the use of an implementationscience framework to effectively integrate technological tools for personalized trauma care