Schoeppe Stephanie, Alley Stephanie, Rebar Amanda L, Hayman Melanie, Bray Nicola A, Van Lippevelde Wendy, Gnam Jens-Peter, Bachert Philip, Direito Artur, Vandelanotte Corneel
School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Physical Activity Research Group, Central Queensland University, Bruce Highway, Rockhampton, QLD, 4702, Australia.
Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2017 Jun 24;14(1):83. doi: 10.1186/s12966-017-0538-3.
The number of commercial apps to improve health behaviours in children is growing rapidly. While this provides opportunities for promoting health, the content and quality of apps targeting children and adolescents is largely unexplored. This review systematically evaluated the content and quality of apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents, and examined relationships of app quality ratings with number of app features and behaviour change techniques (BCTs) used.
Systematic literature searches were conducted in iTunes and Google Play stores between May-November 2016. Apps were included if they targeted children or adolescents, focused on improving diet, physical activity and/or sedentary behaviour, had a user rating of at least 4+ based on at least 20 ratings, and were available in English. App inclusion, downloading and user-testing for quality assessment and content analysis were conducted independently by two reviewers. Spearman correlations were used to examine relationships between app quality, and number of technical app features and BCTs included.
Twenty-five apps were included targeting diet (n = 12), physical activity (n = 18) and sedentary behaviour (n = 7). On a 5-point Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), overall app quality was moderate (total MARS score: 3.6). Functionality was the highest scoring domain (mean: 4.1, SD: 0.6), followed by aesthetics (mean: 3.8, SD: 0.8), and lower scoring for engagement (mean: 3.6, SD: 0.7) and information quality (mean: 2.8, SD: 0.8). On average, 6 BCTs were identified per app (range: 1-14); the most frequently used BCTs were providing 'instructions' (n = 19), 'general encouragement' (n = 18), 'contingent rewards' (n = 17), and 'feedback on performance' (n = 13). App quality ratings correlated positively with numbers of technical app features (rho = 0.42, p < 0.05) and BCTs included (rho = 0.54, p < 0.01).
Popular commercial apps to improve diet, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children and adolescents had moderate quality overall, scored higher in terms of functionality. Most apps incorporated some BCTs and higher quality apps included more app features and BCTs. Future app development should identify factors that promote users' app engagement, be tailored to specific population groups, and be informed by health behaviour theories.
旨在改善儿童健康行为的商业应用程序数量正在迅速增长。虽然这为促进健康提供了机会，但针对儿童和青少年的应用程序的内容和质量在很大程度上尚未得到探索。本综述系统地评估了旨在改善儿童和青少年饮食、身体活动和久坐行为的应用程序的内容和质量，并研究了应用程序质量评级与应用程序功能数量和所使用的行为改变技术（BCTs）之间的关系。
2016年5月至11月期间在iTunes和谷歌应用商店进行了系统的文献检索。如果应用程序针对儿童或青少年，专注于改善饮食、身体活动和/或久坐行为，基于至少20个评分的用户评分为至少4+，并且以英文提供，则将其纳入。由两名评审员独立进行应用程序的纳入、下载以及用于质量评估和内容分析的用户测试。使用斯皮尔曼相关性来检验应用程序质量、技术应用程序功能数量和所包含的BCTs之间的关系。
纳入了25个应用程序，其中针对饮食的有12个，针对身体活动的有18个，针对久坐行为的有7个。在5分制的移动应用程序评分量表（MARS）上，应用程序的总体质量中等（MARS总分：3.6）。功能是得分最高的领域（平均：4.1，标准差：0.6），其次是美学（平均：3.8，标准差：0.8），而参与度（平均：3.6，标准差：0.7）和信息质量（平均：2.8，标准差：0.8）得分较低。每个应用程序平均识别出6种BCTs（范围：1 - 14）；最常用的BCTs是提供“说明”（n = 19）、 “一般鼓励”（n = 18）、“偶然奖励”（n = 17）和“绩效反馈”（n = 13）。应用程序质量评级与技术应用程序功能数量（rho = 0.42，p < 0.05）和所包含的BCTs数量（rho = 0.54，p < 0.01）呈正相关。
旨在改善儿童和青少年饮食、身体活动和久坐行为的流行商业应用程序总体质量中等，在功能方面得分较高。大多数应用程序纳入了一些BCTs，质量较高的应用程序包含更多的应用程序功能和BCTs。未来的应用程序开发应确定促进用户应用程序参与度的因素，针对特定人群进行定制，并以健康行为理论为依据。
