Bendotti Hollie, Lawler Sheleigh, Ireland David, Gartner Coral, Hides Leanne, Marshall Henry M
Thoracic Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Chermside, QLD, Australia.
School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Feb 1;24(2):169-177. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntab174.
Mobile smoking cessation (mCessation) apps have the potential to complement and enhance existing interventions, but many are of low quality. Exploring app reviews can provide a broader understanding of user experiences and engagement, to enhance the quality, acceptability, and effectiveness of future developments.
Publicly available user reviews and ratings of smoking cessation apps were mined from Google Play and the App Store via a targeted two-stage search strategy. English language smoking cessation apps with at least 20 consumer reviews between 2011 and 2020 were included. User reviews were thematically analyzed using Braun and Clarke's framework. Apps were independently scored using the Mobile Apps Rating Scale (MARS) and compared to average user star ratings.
Forty-eight versions of 42 apps, encompassing 1414 associated reviews, met eligibility criteria. Inductive coding of reviews produced 1084 coding references including reviews coded across multiple nodes. Themes generated included: (1) supportive characteristics/tools; (2) useability; (3) influence on smoking behavior; (4) benefits of quitting; and (5) role as a supplementary tool for quitting. The mean MARS score of 36 free and accessible apps was 3.10 (SD 0.71) with mean scores ranging from 2.00 to 4.47. An inverse relationship between MARS scores and average user star ratings was observed.
App personalization, relationality, functionality, and credibility were important to users, and should be considered as key design components for future apps. Differences between user star ratings and MARS scores may illustrate competing priorities of consumers and researchers, and the importance of a codesign development method.
This is the first study to use unsolicited user reviews from a large population to understand the general mCessation user experience in relation to making a quit attempt. Our findings highlight specific features favored and disliked by users, including their influence on engagement, and supports previous findings that mCessation applications need to be highly tailorable, functional, credible, and supportive. We recommend a consumer-driven, co-design approach for future mCessation app developments to optimize user acceptability and engagement.
移动戒烟应用程序有潜力补充和加强现有的干预措施，但许多此类应用程序质量较低。探索应用程序评论可以更广泛地了解用户体验和参与度，以提高未来开发产品的质量、可接受性和有效性。
通过有针对性的两阶段搜索策略，从谷歌Play商店和苹果应用商店挖掘公开可用的戒烟应用程序用户评论和评分。纳入2011年至2020年期间至少有20条消费者评论的英文戒烟应用程序。使用布劳恩和克拉克的框架对用户评论进行主题分析。应用程序使用移动应用评分量表（MARS）进行独立评分，并与用户平均星级评分进行比较。
42款应用程序的48个版本，涵盖1414条相关评论，符合纳入标准。对评论的归纳编码产生了1084个编码参考，包括跨多个节点编码的评论。产生的主题包括：（1）支持性特征/工具；（2）可用性；（3）对吸烟行为的影响；（4）戒烟的益处；（5）作为戒烟辅助工具的作用。36款免费且可访问的应用程序的平均MARS评分为3.10（标准差0.71），平均得分在2.00至4.47之间。观察到MARS评分与用户平均星级评分之间存在负相关关系。
应用程序的个性化、关联性、功能和可信度对用户很重要，应被视为未来应用程序的关键设计要素。用户星级评分与MARS评分之间的差异可能说明了消费者和研究人员相互竞争的优先事项，以及协同设计开发方法的重要性。
这是第一项利用大量用户的自发评论来了解与尝试戒烟相关的一般移动戒烟用户体验的研究。我们的研究结果突出了用户喜欢和不喜欢的特定功能，包括它们对参与度的影响，并支持了之前的研究结果，即移动戒烟应用程序需要高度可定制、功能强大、可信且具有支持性。我们建议未来的移动戒烟应用程序开发采用以消费者为导向的协同设计方法，以优化用户可接受性和参与度。
