Post-CCST in Orthodontics, Eastman Dental Hospital, 256 Grays Inn Road, London, UK.
Clinical Lecturer/Honorary Consultant in Orthodontics, MClinDent Deputy Programme Director, University College London, Eastman Dental Institute, London, UK.
Br Dent J. 2019 Apr;226(8):600-604. doi: 10.1038/s41415-019-0197-7.
Introduction The use of apps has increased in recent years, especially in healthcare. Due to apps being largely unregulated, the quality and accuracy of the information provided can be variable.Aim To assess the availability of patient-focused oral hygiene apps and profile the characteristics of the most popular apps on Apple's 'App Store' and, on Android, 'Google Play'.Method Oral hygiene-related search terms were used to identify apps on these platforms. Detailed information for the 20 most popular apps for each search term was recorded.Results In total, 1,075 apps were identified with fewer apps available on the App Store than on Google Play. The 20 most popular apps for each search term focused on providing oral hygiene information, were free of charge and were developed after 2015. No apps contained information regarding whether they were approved by official organisations and if effectiveness or acceptability testing had been conducted. App ratings were variable and unrelated to the quality and accuracy of the information.Conclusion Due to a lack of professional regulation, there is a risk that patients may access inaccurate information via apps. Therefore, evaluation, validation, and quality assessment of healthcare apps is needed before recommending these to patients.
简介 近年来，应用程序的使用有所增加，尤其是在医疗保健领域。由于应用程序在很大程度上不受监管，因此提供的信息的质量和准确性可能会有所不同。目的 评估以患者为中心的口腔卫生应用程序的可用性，并分析苹果“应用商店”和安卓“Google Play”上最受欢迎的应用程序的特点。方法 使用口腔卫生相关搜索词在这些平台上识别应用程序。记录每个搜索词的 20 个最受欢迎应用程序的详细信息。结果 共确定了 1075 个应用程序，其中应用商店上的应用程序比 Google Play 上的少。每个搜索词的 20 个最受欢迎的应用程序都侧重于提供口腔卫生信息，都是免费的，并且是在 2015 年之后开发的。没有应用程序包含有关它们是否获得官方组织批准以及是否进行了效果或可接受性测试的信息。应用程序的评分各不相同，与信息的质量和准确性无关。结论 由于缺乏专业监管，患者可能会通过应用程序获取不准确的信息。因此，在向患者推荐这些应用程序之前，需要对医疗保健应用程序进行评估、验证和质量评估。
