Understanding the quality, effectiveness and attributes of top-rated smartphone health apps

Wisniewski, Hannah; Liu, Gang; Henson, Philip; Vaidyam, Aditya; Hajratalli, Narissa Karima; Onnela, Jukka‐Pekka; Torous, John

doi:10.1136/ebmental-2018-300069

Cited by 109 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…This discrepancy could be due to our focus on generic mood-monitoring apps rather than clinical intervention apps or those designed for specific mental health conditions. This finding could also indicate the facilitation of self-management within mood-monitoring apps, which has been demonstrated in previous research, as well as creating a sense of greater control and autonomy around health management [ 11 , 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

“…Given the rarity of content analyses of consumer perspectives on mobile apps within the literature, the majority of the analysis used an inductive approach to developing a coding framework [ 48 ]. Although the existing literature on analyzing mHealth app user reviews is limited, a smaller-scale deductive approach was carried out by using existing themes drawn from what published research was available to further inform our content analysis framework [ 11 , 21 , 35 , 49 ]. Following the guidelines on inductive analysis approaches in previous studies [ 21 , 35 ], we developed a database of coded user reviews.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mood monitoring is a widely used technique within nonclinical populations, provides insight into the development and trajectory of common mental health difficulties [ 6 - 8 ], and is an embedded technique in existing self-management techniques and evidence-based mental health treatments [ 9 ]. Self-tracking mood encourages users to actively engage in their health care management, provides a sense of autonomy [ 10 , 11 ], and increases awareness and self-regulation of emotional well-being [ 12 , 13 ]. There are several reviews exploring mood monitoring in adult populations [ 14 - 17 ]; however, much less is known about their use in child and adolescent populations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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User Perspectives of Mood-Monitoring Apps Available to Young People: Qualitative Content Analysis

Widnall¹,

Grant²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth

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Background Mobile health apps are increasingly available and used in a clinical context to monitor young people’s mood and mental health. Despite the benefits of accessibility and cost-effectiveness, consumer engagement remains a hurdle for uptake and continued use. Hundreds of mood-monitoring apps are publicly available to young people on app stores; however, few studies have examined consumer perspectives. App store reviews held on Google and Apple platforms provide a large, rich source of naturally generated, publicly available user reviews. Although commercial developers use these data to modify and improve their apps, to date, there has been very little in-depth evaluation of app store user reviews within scientific research, and our current understanding of what makes apps engaging and valuable to young people is limited. Objective This study aims to gain a better understanding of what app users consider useful to encourage frequent and prolonged use of mood-monitoring apps appropriate for young people. Methods A systematic approach was applied to the selection of apps and reviews. We identified mood-monitoring apps (n=53) by a combination of automated application programming interface (API) methods. We only included apps appropriate for young people based on app store age categories (apps available to those younger than 18 years). We subsequently downloaded all available user reviews via API data scraping methods and selected a representative subsample of reviews (n=1803) for manual qualitative content analysis. Results The qualitative content analysis revealed 8 main themes: accessibility (34%), flexibility (21%), recording and representation of mood (18%), user requests (17%), reflecting on mood (16%), technical features (16%), design (13%), and health promotion (11%). A total of 6 minor themes were also identified: notification and reminders; recommendation; privacy, security, and transparency; developer; adverts; and social/community. Conclusions Users value mood-monitoring apps that can be personalized to their needs, have a simple and intuitive design, and allow accurate representation and review of complex and fluctuating moods. App store reviews are a valuable repository of user engagement feedback and provide a wealth of information about what users value in an app and what user needs are not being met. Users perceive mood-monitoring apps positively, but over 20% of reviews identified the need for improvement.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

User Perspectives of Mood-Monitoring Apps Available to Young People: Qualitative Content Analysis

Widnall¹,

Grant²,

Wang³

et al. 2020

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Compared with drug formularies which are consistent, apps undergo iterative changes to address bugs and make feature updates. In fact, app updates might be one way to maintain the quality and benefits from a product [24]. Benefits and harms may then change over time which will require continuous data collection and digital tools can offer this monitoring.…”

Section: Monitoring and Assessing Risks And Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards the Design of Ethical Standards Related to Digital Mental Health and all Its Applications

Wykes

Lipshitz

Schueller

2019

Curr Treat Options Psych

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Purpose of the review Digital health technologies offer tremendous potential in increasing access to services and augmenting existing services. Utilizing these technologies, however, poses new ethical considerations for clinicians, researchers, and healthcare organizations. These issues have been particularly apparent recently with several public instances of misuse of digitally available personal data. Responsibility for ethics is distributed among creators, end users, and purveyors which has meant that this aspect of digital technology production and use tends to be thought of as someone else's problem. Recent findings In this overview, we discuss key ethical issues and dilemmas in order to drive ethical implementation, future technology development, and potential formal and informal regulation. Key considerations discussed include risk-benefit ratios, privacy and data security, ethical development of digital mental health tools, ethical research processes, and informed consent. Concrete recommendations are made for different stakeholders in digital mental health. Summary Digital mental health tools come with ethical considerations for the public, patients, clinicians, and health services to feel confident in their use. It will be essential for all groups to recognize their responsibilities and begin to shape frameworks for ethical development and implementation.

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“…9,10 However, many applications used for other purposes have been poorly studied, and there is little evidence to support claims that they improve outcomes. 11,12 One barrier to a formal study of mobile applications is that outcomes of interest may be heterogeneous or difficult to measure.…”

Section: Background and Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Experiences of Health Care Providers Using a Mobile Medical Photography Application

et al. 2020

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Objective To understand the ways in which providers use a mobile photography application integrated with the electronic health record (EHR) to facilitate clinical care, and the process outcomes that result from the application's use. Methods An e-mail survey was sent on November 13, 2017, to 1,463 health care providers at Mayo Clinic who had used an internally developed, EHR-integrated medical photography application. Results The survey was completed by 712 (49%) providers. Providers reported using the application on approximately 1 in 7 days spent in clinical practice. Median provider satisfaction with the use of the application (0–100 scale; higher numbers indicate favorable response) was 94 (interquartile range [IQR]: 74–100). Although the use for store-and-forward telemedicine was reported (22% often or frequently used the application to send photographs to a specialist for advice), the most common use was for clinical documentation (65% often or frequently used the application to supplement text-based notes with photographs, and 71% often or frequently used the application to take photographs for reference by a colleague who may see the patient in the future). Of the health care providers, 36% indicated that the application's use often or frequently expedited treatment. Discussion Health care providers reported using a mobile point-of-care medical photography application regularly in clinical practice and were generally satisfied with the application. Conclusion Point-of-care medical photography using a secure mobile, EHR-integrated application has potential to become a new standard of care for clinical documentation and may facilitate continuity across the continuum of care with multiple providers who see a patient.

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Understanding the quality, effectiveness and attributes of top-rated smartphone health apps

Cited by 109 publications

References 20 publications

User Perspectives of Mood-Monitoring Apps Available to Young People: Qualitative Content Analysis

User Perspectives of Mood-Monitoring Apps Available to Young People: Qualitative Content Analysis

Towards the Design of Ethical Standards Related to Digital Mental Health and all Its Applications

Experiences of Health Care Providers Using a Mobile Medical Photography Application

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