Apps for individuals diagnosed with breast cancer: a preliminary assessment of the content and quality of commercially available apps in Spanish

Martín-Payo, Rubén; Ferreras-Losilla, Llara; González-Méndez, Xana; Leirós-Díaz, Claudia; Martínez-Urquijo, Andrea; Fernández-Álvarez, Maria Del Mar

doi:10.21037/mhealth-19-191

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Others have similarly identified many apps with just about acceptable scores among breast cancer prevention apps. 41 , 45 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A content-based review of mobile health applications for breast cancer prevention and education: Characteristics, quality and functionality analysis

Altmannshofer,

Flaucher,

Beierlein

et al. 2024

DIGITAL HEALTH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Mobile Health apps could be a feasible and effective tool to raise awareness for breast cancer prevention and to support women to change their behaviour to a healthier lifestyle. The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics and quality of apps designed for breast cancer prevention and education. Methods We conducted a systematic search for apps covering breast cancer prevention topics in the Google Play and Apple App Store accessible from Germany using search terms either in German or in English. Only apps with a last update after June 2020 were included. The apps identified were downloaded and evaluated by two independent researchers. App quality was analysed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). Associations of app characteristics and MARS rating were analysed. Results We identified 19 apps available in the Google Play Store and seven apps available in the Apple App Store that met all inclusion criteria. The mean MARS score was 3.07 and 3.50, respectively. Functionality was the highest-scoring domain. Operating system, developer (healthcare), download rates and time since the last update were significantly associated with overall MARS score. In addition, the presence of the following app functions significantly influenced MARS rating: breast self-examination tutorial, reminder for self-examination, documentation feature and education about breast cancer risk factors. Conclusions Although most of the apps offer important features for breast cancer prevention, none of the analysed apps combined all functions. The absence of healthcare professionals’ expertise in developing apps negatively affects the overall quality.

show abstract

“…Others have similarly identified many apps with just about acceptable scores among breast cancer prevention apps. 41 , 45 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A content-based review of mobile health applications for breast cancer prevention and education: Characteristics, quality and functionality analysis

Altmannshofer,

Flaucher,

Beierlein

et al. 2024

DIGITAL HEALTH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A recent Spanish study tested 6 apps (2 on iOS, 5 on Android, and 1 on both) using the MARS framework. The results of the study showed relatively diverse scores, with an objective quality mean score of 3.06 and a subjective quality mean score of 1.96 [ 52 ]. Another study evaluated the quality of mHealth apps for educational purposes in Iran using the MARS framework.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Quality, Privacy, and Security of Breast Cancer Apps for Arabic Speakers: Systematic Search and Review of Smartphone Apps

Alhuwail,

Alhouti,

Alsarhan

2024

JMIR Cancer

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Breast cancer is a widespread disease, and its incidence is rapidly increasing in the Middle East and North Africa region. With the increasing availability of smartphone apps for various health purposes, breast cancer apps have emerged as tools for raising awareness, providing support, and empowering women affected by this disease. These apps offer many features, including information on breast cancer risk factors, self-examination guides, appointment reminders, and community support groups or hotlines. Using apps raises the risk of privacy and security issues, and we hope that examining these features of the apps will contribute to the understanding of how technology can be used to improve these apps and provide insights for future development and improvement of breast cancer apps. Objective This study aims to critically review the quality, privacy, and security of breast cancer apps available to Arabic speakers. Methods Similar to several recent studies, we used a systematic search for apps available in Google Play and Apple App stores using both the web interface and the built-in native stores installed on smartphones. The search was conducted in mid-December 2022 in Arabic using the following keywords: سرطان الثدي – فحص سرطان الثدي – علاج سرطان الثدي – مرض سرطان الثدي – أعراض سرطان الثدي – فحص الثدي (breast cancer, breast cancer treatment, breast cancer disease, breast cancer symptoms, breast cancer screening, and breast test). These preidentified search terms are based on earlier work concerning the top searched breast cancer topics by Arabic speakers through Google’s search engine. We excluded apps that did not have an Arabic interface, were developed for non-Arabic speakers, were paid, needed a subscription, or were directed toward health care workers. The Mobile App Rating Scale was used to evaluate the quality of the apps concerning their engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information. A risk score was calculated for the apps to determine their security risk factors. Results Only 9 apps were included, with most (6/9, 67%) being supported by advertisements and categorized as informational. Overall, the apps had low numbers of downloads (>10 to >1000). The majority of the included apps (8/9, 89%) requested dangerous access permissions, including access to storage, media files, and the camera. The average security score of the included apps was 3.22, while only 2 apps provided information about data security and privacy. The included apps achieved an overall average quality score of 3.27, with individual dimension scores of 4.75 for functionality, 3.04 for information, 3.00 for aesthetics, and 2.32 for engagement. Conclusions The limited availability of breast cancer apps available to Arabic speakers should be a call to action and prompt health care organizations and developers to join forces and collaboratively develop information-rich, usable, functional, engaging, and secure apps.

show abstract

Spanish versión of The App Behavior Change Scale (ABACUS-Es): Adaptation and validation study

Martin-Payo,

González-Nuevo-Vázquez,

Álvarez-Gómez

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Health applications have grown exponentially in the last decade and are well accepted by users and health services. It is essential that digital tools meet the needs of the target users and are reliable, hence the importance of evaluating them. The aim of this study was to adapt The App Behavior Change Scale (ABACUS) into the Spanish language and to assess their metric properties. Methods This was an study undertaken in two phases: (1) translation and cultural adaptation process; (2) psychometric evaluation. 65 physical activity apps were included in the study (9 running Apple, 50 running Android and 6 running both). Cross-cultural adaptation, translation, and metric evaluation was made. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Spanish version of the ABACUS was evaluated using physical activity apps. Two reviewers independently rated the apps using the translated scale. The apps were then rated again 2 weeks later by the same reviewers to measure test-retest reliability. Results No major differences were observed between both versions of ABACUS (original and Spanish). Discrimination indices (item-scale correlation) obtained appropriate results for both raters. ABACUS-Es presented an excellent interrater reliability (0.82, 95% CI 0.80–0.84) and excellent internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.82). Conclusions The Spanish version of ABACUS, ABACUS-Es, is an instrument with adequate metric properties to measure the potential behavior change of apps from health professionals and app developers. ABACUS will help guide future research efforts in the development and evaluation of apps to promote health behaviors, and provides guidance for app developers to include adequate behavior change techniques in apps in Spanish to be used to promote health behaviors.

show abstract

Apps for individuals diagnosed with breast cancer: a preliminary assessment of the content and quality of commercially available apps in Spanish

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

A content-based review of mobile health applications for breast cancer prevention and education: Characteristics, quality and functionality analysis

A content-based review of mobile health applications for breast cancer prevention and education: Characteristics, quality and functionality analysis

Assessing the Quality, Privacy, and Security of Breast Cancer Apps for Arabic Speakers: Systematic Search and Review of Smartphone Apps

Spanish versión of The App Behavior Change Scale (ABACUS-Es): Adaptation and validation study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About