Child Development, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Front Public Health. 2022 Nov 23;10:993795. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.993795. eCollection 2022.
Adolescence is a period of emotional, mental, and physical change. To increase health seeking behaviors, reduce risky sexual behavior, and improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge, adolescents require support and access to SRH services. Providing evidence-informed SRH knowledge to adolescents in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can be a challenge as they face unique barriers such as lack of confidentiality, fear of refusal, and stigma from cultural norms. Increasing availability of mobile apps necessitates a comprehensive evaluation of the quality and classification of these SRH mobile applications so that accurate and evidence-based information is reaching its users. Failure to provide SRH services can have damaging effects throughout their development.
Provide an overview of current adolescent SRH (ASRH) mobile applications targeting adolescents in LMICs by evaluating their quality and classifying their characteristics.
21 search terms related to ASRH mobile apps was developed. These terms were searched in the Apple IOS store and Google Play stores. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used to screen these apps. Resulting apps were assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tool. Data extracted was used to rank order each app and identify any gaps in quality.
Search strategy yielded 2,165 mobile apps. Of these, only 8 were assessed using the MARS tool. Functionality subdomain scored highest at 4.6, while Information scored lowest at 2.5. None of the assessed apps contained information on the MARS items: Evidence base and Goals. Too Shy to Ask had the highest individual app mean score of 4.1, while e-SRHR scored lowest at 2.3.
The goal of this study is to classify and rate the quality of mobile apps designed to promote ASRH behaviors and knowledge in LMICs. Numerous apps were reviewed and all of them failed to provide evidence-based and goal oriented SRH information. Strengths include ease of use, navigation, and gestural designs. Weaknesses include evidence base, goals, willingness to pay, customization, and interactivity. These findings can be potentially used to guide future app development and educate decision makers responsible for policy changes.
青春期是一个情绪、心理和生理变化的时期。为了增加健康寻求行为，减少危险的性行为，并提高性与生殖健康（SRH）知识，青少年需要支持和获得 SRH 服务。向中低收入国家（LMICs）的青少年提供基于证据的 SRH 知识可能具有挑战性，因为他们面临着独特的障碍，例如缺乏保密性、担心被拒绝以及文化规范带来的耻辱感。移动应用程序的可用性不断增加，因此需要全面评估这些 SRH 移动应用程序的质量和分类，以便将准确和基于证据的信息传递给用户。未能提供 SRH 服务可能会在整个发展过程中产生破坏性影响。
通过评估中低收入国家青少年使用的 ASRH 移动应用程序的质量并对其进行分类，概述当前的青少年性与生殖健康（ASRH）移动应用程序。
开发了 21 个与 ASRH 移动应用程序相关的搜索词。这些术语在苹果 IOS 商店和谷歌 Play 商店中进行了搜索。使用纳入和排除标准对这些应用程序进行筛选。使用移动应用程序评级量表（MARS）工具对生成的应用程序进行评估。提取的数据用于对每个应用程序进行排名，并确定质量方面的任何差距。
搜索策略产生了 2165 个移动应用程序。其中，只有 8 个应用程序使用 MARS 工具进行了评估。功能子域得分最高，为 4.6，而信息子域得分最低，为 2.5。评估的应用程序中均未包含 MARS 项目的信息：证据基础和目标。Too Shy to Ask 的单个应用程序平均得分最高，为 4.1，而 e-SRHR 的得分最低，为 2.3。
本研究的目的是对旨在促进中低收入国家 ASRH 行为和知识的移动应用程序进行分类和评分。审查了许多应用程序，它们都没有提供基于证据和目标导向的 SRH 信息。优点包括易于使用、导航和手势设计。缺点包括证据基础、目标、支付意愿、定制和交互性。这些发现可用于指导未来的应用程序开发，并为负责政策变更的决策者提供教育。
