How trustworthy are apps for maternal and child health?

Abstract

Mobile technologies have become important tools for promoting and implementing healthcare. A key feature of smartphones and tablet computers is their ability to run software applications (apps), which can address specific healthrelated areas, including maternal and child health; however, there is little independent regulation or guidance for the development and publication of health apps in many countries, including Australia. This research examined health apps in two major app stores (Google and Apple) that address maternal and child health. Ten free maternal and child health apps available in Google and Apple stores were examined to evaluate their trustworthiness and technical performance. This was determined based on evidence of health professional involvement and use of evidence-based medical content, as well as an evaluation of functionality, usability and security. Only four of the ten apps examined were developed with the involvement of health professionals and four provided information from evidence-based medical content. Significantly, only four were fully functional, two were fully usable and three adequately implemented security mechanisms to guarantee privacy of user data. Two of the apps were inoperative. In conclusion, this study found great variation in the quality of content, functionality and security of ten maternal and child health apps. These results suggest developers, owners and health providers should work to improve maternal and child health apps, consumers need help to determine the trustworthiness of health apps, and sponsors and regulators should establish standards and endorse compliant health apps.

An Australian survey of women's use of pregnancy and parenting apps

“…At the same time as the use of apps for medical and health-related purposes is becoming more common, several researchers are beginning to express concern about the validity and credibility of the information that the developers of health and medical apps provide 21,22 .…”

“…Their personal data are therefore very valuable to commercial entities 26 . One assessment of ten popular free apps relating to maternal and child health found significant variation in the quality of content, functionality and security 22 . Only three of the developers of the parenting and pregnancy apps that were studied had implemented a security mechanism to guarantee privacy and confidentiality.…”

‘It Just Gives Me a Bit of Peace of Mind’: Australian Women’s Use of Digital Media for Pregnancy and Early Motherhood

“…Health, medical and fitness apps in general are notorious for leaking personal data and failing to encrypt data effectively [23,24]. One study found that only one in three pregnancy and parenting apps has implemented a security mechanism to guarantee privacy and confidentiality of the data that people were uploading [25].…”

A Post Publication Review of " A Review and Comparative Analysis of Security Risks and Safety Measures of Mobile Health Apps"

“…We agree that vulnerable users, such as the elderly and those with mental health issues have specific needs and challenges in managing privacy and security concerns. We would argue that children are another vulnerable group (Benassi, 1999;Scott, Gome, Richards, & Caldwell, 2015). However, it was, and is, beyond the scope of our investigation to suggest how our general recommendations could be modified for, or implemented by, specific groups of users.…”