Characteristics and Usage Patterns Among 12,151 Paid Subscribers of the Calm Meditation App: Cross-Sectional Survey.

Background: Meditation has become increasingly popular due to its health benefits; however, barriers to delivering meditation programs in traditional group-based formats limit the accessibility of these benefits. Smartphone-based meditation may increase the availability of these programs to larger, more diverse audiences; however, research on subscriber characteristics and usage patterns in meditation mobile apps is lacking.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, and usage patterns of a convenience sample of Calm subscribers and explore the relationship between self-reported app usage and changes in health, stress, and sleep.