Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality

Abstract

Background Approximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Approximately 20,000 mental health apps are listed in mobile app stores. However, no significant evaluation of mental health apps in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has been identified in the literature yet. Objective This study aims to review the mental health mobile apps currently available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store and to evaluate their quality using Mobile App Rating Scale–French (MARS-F). Methods Screening of mental health apps was conducted from June 10, 2022, to June 17, 2022, on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A shortlist of 12 apps was identified using the criteria of selection and assessed using MARS-F by 9 mental health professionals. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate interrater agreement. Mean (SD) scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated. Results The highest scores for MARS-F quality were obtained by Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (mean 3.85, SD 0.48), Evoluno (mean 3.54, SD 0.72), and Teale (mean 3.53, SD 0.87). Mean engagement scores (section A) ranged from 2.33 (SD 0.69) for Reflexe reussite to 3.80 (SD 0.61) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean aesthetics scores (section C) ranged from 2.52 (SD 0.62) for Mental Booster to 3.89 (SD 0.69) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean information scores (section D) ranged from 2.00 (SD 0.75) for Mental Booster to 3.46 (SD 0.77) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean Mobile App Rating Scale subjective quality (section E) score varied from 1.22 (SD 0.26) for VOS – journal de l’humeur to 2.69 (SD 0.84) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean app specificity (section F) score varied from 1.56 (SD 0.97) for Mental Booster to 3.31 (SD 1.22) for Evoluno. For all the mental health apps studied, except Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (11/12, 92%), the subjective quality score was always lower than the app specificity score, which was always lower than the MARS-F quality score, and that was lower than the rating score from the iPhone Operating System or Android app stores. Conclusions Mental health professionals assessed that, despite the lack of scientific evidence, the mental health mobile apps available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store were of good quality. However, they are reluctant to use them in their professional practice. Additional investigations are needed to assess their compliance with recommendations and their long-term impact on users.

Quality Assessment of Smartphone Medication Management Apps in France: Systematic Search

“…The correlation between item 23 (“What is your overall star rating for the app?”) and the MARS-F was very strong for apps on iOS and strong for apps on Android. These results are consistent with other studies dealing with nutrition and mental health apps, respectively [ 29 , 30 ]. It is interesting to note that the subjective rating of the reviewers correlated with the overall quality of the app assessed by an objective scale, unlike the user rating.…”

“…We have no point of comparison in the absence of any previous French-speaking or English-speaking study evaluating medication reminder apps by a validated score. Nevertheless, these results were expected, as they are consistent with other French studies on health apps for smoking cessation (mean MARS-F of 3.49, SD 0.57) for 14 apps [ 28 ], nutrition (mean MARS-F of 3.26, SD 0.43) for 15 apps [ 29 ], mental health (mean MARS-F of 3.16, SD 0.43) for 12 apps [ 30 ], or oral hygiene (mean MARS-F of 3.20, SD 0.38) for 9 apps [ 31 ].…”

“…In contrast, the section with the lowest average score was the engagement section (average of 3.19, SD 0.62, on the App Store and 3.15, SD 0.63, on the Google Play Store), followed by the information section (average of 3.29, SD 0.71, and 3.33, SD 0.56, on the App Store and Google Play Store, respectively), in line with the literature [ 32 - 37 ]. Several other studies have noted lower scores for the information section [ 25 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 38 - 41 ]. Nevertheless, these 2 sections are regularly cited as being those for which we find lower averages.…”

Defining the Characteristics of an e-Health Tool for Suicide Primary Prevention in the General Population: The StopBlues Case in France

“…However, this review is now five years old and newer e-tools were not included. As this is an expanding field, new mental health applications are now available in French [ 101 ]. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are still no existing guidelines regarding development of e-health tools for suicide primary prevention.…”

Mobile health for mental health support: a survey of attitudes and concerns among mental health professionals in Poland over the period 2020-2023

“…Several factors will determine whether mobile solutions in mental health will become widely implemented. Firstly, there is a need for reliable, validated apps and websites that can truly help patients (19)(20)(21). The perception of such solutions by people with mental illnesses is also extremely important, as this may determine their ultimate use (22,23).…”