Center for Healthy Ageing and Wellness, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2024 Mar 12;12:e49055. doi: 10.2196/49055.
The success of mobile apps in improving the lifestyle of patients with noncommunicable diseases through self-management interventions is contingent upon the emerging growth in this field. While users of mobile health (mHealth) apps continue to grow in number, little is known about the quality of available apps that provide self-management for common noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.
We aimed to investigate the availability, characteristics, and quality of mHealth apps for common noncommunicable disease health management that included dietary aspects (based on the developer's description), as well as their features for promoting health outcomes and self-monitoring.
A systematic search of English-language apps on the Google Play Store (Google LLC) and Apple App Store (Apple Inc) was conducted between August 7, 2022, and September 13, 2022. The search terms used included weight management, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and diet. The selected mHealth apps' titles and content were screened based on the description that was provided. Apps that were not designed with self-management features were excluded. We analyzed the mHealth apps by category and whether they involved health care professionals, were based on scientific testing, and had self-monitoring features. A validated and multidimensional tool, the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), was used to evaluate each mHealth app's quality based on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (inadequate) to 5 (excellent).
Overall, 42 apps were identified. Diabetes-specific mHealth apps accounted for 7% (n=3) of the market, hypertension apps for 12% (n=5), and general noncommunicable disease management apps for 21% (n=9). About 38% (n=16) of the apps were for managing chronic diseases, while 74% (n=31) were for weight management. Self-management features such as weight tracking, BMI calculators, diet tracking, and fluid intake tracking were seen in 86% (n=36) of the apps. Most mHealth apps (n=37, 88%) did not indicate whether there was involvement of health professionals in app development. Additionally, none of the apps reported scientific evidence demonstrating their efficacy in managing health. The overall mean MARS score was 3.2 of 5, with a range of 2.0 to 4.1. Functionality was the best-rated category (mean score 3.9, SD 0.5), followed by aesthetics (mean score 3.2, SD 0.9), information (mean score 3.1, SD 0.7), and engagement (mean score 2.9, SD 0.6).
The quality of mHealth apps for managing chronic diseases was heterogeneous, with roughly half of them falling short of acceptable standards for both quality and content. The majority of apps contained scant information about scientific evidence and the developer's history. To increase user confidence and accomplish desired health outcomes, mHealth apps should be optimized with the help of health care professionals. Future studies on mHealth content analysis should focus on other diseases as well.
移动应用程序通过自我管理干预措施在改善非传染性疾病患者生活方式方面的成功取决于该领域的新兴增长。虽然移动健康 (mHealth) 应用程序的用户数量持续增长，但对于提供糖尿病、高血压和肥胖等常见非传染性疾病自我管理的可用应用程序的质量知之甚少。
我们旨在调查常见非传染性疾病健康管理的 mHealth 应用程序的可用性、特征和质量，这些应用程序包括饮食方面（基于开发人员的描述），以及它们促进健康结果和自我监测的功能。
我们于 2022 年 8 月 7 日至 9 月 13 日在谷歌播放商店（谷歌有限责任公司）和苹果应用商店（苹果公司）对英文应用程序进行了系统搜索。使用的搜索词包括体重管理、肥胖、糖尿病、高血压、心血管疾病、中风和饮食。根据提供的描述筛选出具有自我管理功能的选定 mHealth 应用程序的标题和内容。不具备自我管理功能的应用程序被排除在外。我们根据类别分析 mHealth 应用程序，以及它们是否涉及医疗保健专业人员、基于科学测试以及具有自我监测功能。使用经过验证的多维工具，即移动应用程序评级量表 (MARS)，根据 1 分（不足）到 5 分（优秀）的 5 点李克特量表对每个 mHealth 应用程序的质量进行评估。
总体而言，确定了 42 个应用程序。糖尿病专用 mHealth 应用程序占市场的 7%（n=3），高血压应用程序占 12%（n=5），一般非传染性疾病管理应用程序占 21%（n=9）。约 38%（n=16）的应用程序用于管理慢性病，而 74%（n=31）的应用程序用于体重管理。86%（n=36）的应用程序具有体重跟踪、BMI 计算器、饮食跟踪和液体摄入跟踪等自我管理功能。大多数 mHealth 应用程序（n=37，88%）没有表明是否有医疗保健专业人员参与应用程序开发。此外，没有一个应用程序报告了管理健康的科学证据证明其有效性。总体平均 MARS 评分为 5 分中的 3.2 分，范围为 2.0 至 4.1。功能是评分最高的类别（平均评分 3.9，SD 0.5），其次是美学（平均评分 3.2，SD 0.9）、信息（平均评分 3.1，SD 0.7）和参与度（平均评分 2.9，SD 0.6）。
管理慢性病的 mHealth 应用程序的质量参差不齐，大约一半的应用程序在质量和内容方面都达不到可接受的标准。大多数应用程序都包含有关科学证据和开发者历史的信息。为了提高用户的信心并实现预期的健康结果，mHealth 应用程序应该在医疗保健专业人员的帮助下进行优化。未来关于 mHealth 内容分析的研究也应该关注其他疾病。
