Robertson Greg A J, Wong Seng Juong, Brady Richard R, Subramanian Ashok S
Department of Orthopaedics, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, 51 Little France Crescent, Old Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh, EH16 4SA, UK.
University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
Eur Spine J. 2016 May;25(5):1355-1362. doi: 10.1007/s00586-015-3932-z. Epub 2015 Apr 14.
The increased utilization of smartphones together with their downloadable applications (apps) provides opportunity for doctors, including spinal surgeons, to integrate such technology into clinical practice. However, the clinical reliability of the medical app sector remains questionable. We reviewed available apps themed specifically towards spinal surgery and related conditions and assessed the level of medical professional involvement in their design and content.
The most popular smartphone app stores (Android, Apple, Blackberry, Windows, Samsung, Nokia) were searched for spinal surgery-themed apps, using the disease terms Spinal Surgery, Back Surgery, Spine, Disc Prolapse, Sciatica, Radiculopathy, Spinal Stenosis, Scoliosis, Spinal Fracture and Spondylolisthesis.
A total of 78 individual spinal surgery themed apps were identified, of which there were six duplicates (N = 72). According to app store classifications, there were 57 (79 %) medical themed apps, 11 (15 %) health and fitness themed apps, 1 (1 %) business and 3 (4 %) education themed apps. Forty-five (63 %) apps were available for download free of charge. For those that charged access, the prices ranged from £0.62 to £47.99. Only 44 % of spinal surgery apps had customer satisfaction ratings and 56 % had named medical professional involvement in their development or content.
This is the first study to specifically address the characteristics of apps related to spinal surgery. We found that nearly half of spinal surgery apps had no named medical professional involvement, raising concerns over app content and evidence base for their use. We recommend increased regulation of spinal surgical apps to improve the accountability of app content.
智能手机及其可下载应用程序（应用）的使用日益增加，为包括脊柱外科医生在内的医生将此类技术融入临床实践提供了机会。然而，医疗应用领域的临床可靠性仍存在疑问。我们回顾了专门针对脊柱外科及相关病症的可用应用，并评估了医学专业人员在其设计和内容方面的参与程度。
在最受欢迎的智能手机应用商店（安卓、苹果、黑莓、微软、三星、诺基亚）中搜索以脊柱外科为主题的应用，使用的疾病术语有脊柱外科、背部手术、脊柱、椎间盘突出、坐骨神经痛、神经根病、椎管狭窄、脊柱侧弯、脊柱骨折和腰椎滑脱。
共识别出78个以脊柱外科为主题的独立应用，其中有6个重复（N = 72）。根据应用商店分类，有57个（79%）医学主题应用、11个（15%）健康与健身主题应用、1个（1%）商业应用和3个（4%）教育主题应用。45个（63%）应用可免费下载。对于那些收费的应用，价格从0.62英镑到47.99英镑不等。只有44%的脊柱外科应用有客户满意度评级，56%的应用在其开发或内容方面有医学专业人员参与。
这是第一项专门研究与脊柱外科相关应用特点的研究。我们发现，近一半的脊柱外科应用没有医学专业人员参与，这引发了对应用内容及其使用证据基础的担忧。我们建议加强对脊柱外科应用的监管，以提高应用内容的问责制。
