Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
BackgroundApproximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxie...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JMIR Publications
2022-10-01
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| Series: | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| Online Access: | https://mhealth.jmir.org/2022/10/e41282 |
| _version_ | 1827857936093806592 |
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| author | Florence Carrouel Benjamin du Sartz de Vigneulles Denis Bourgeois Bernard Kabuth Nicolas Baltenneck Fanny Nusbaum Valérie Burge Sylvain Roy Sophie Buchheit Marie-Line Carrion-Martinaud Catherine Massoubre Laurie Fraticelli Claude Dussart |
| author_facet | Florence Carrouel Benjamin du Sartz de Vigneulles Denis Bourgeois Bernard Kabuth Nicolas Baltenneck Fanny Nusbaum Valérie Burge Sylvain Roy Sophie Buchheit Marie-Line Carrion-Martinaud Catherine Massoubre Laurie Fraticelli Claude Dussart |
| author_sort | Florence Carrouel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundApproximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Approximately 20,000 mental health apps are listed in mobile app stores. However, no significant evaluation of mental health apps in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has been identified in the literature yet.
ObjectiveThis study aims to review the mental health mobile apps currently available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store and to evaluate their quality using Mobile App Rating Scale–French (MARS-F).
MethodsScreening of mental health apps was conducted from June 10, 2022, to June 17, 2022, on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A shortlist of 12 apps was identified using the criteria of selection and assessed using MARS-F by 9 mental health professionals. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate interrater agreement. Mean (SD) scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated.
ResultsThe highest scores for MARS-F quality were obtained by Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (mean 3.85, SD 0.48), Evoluno (mean 3.54, SD 0.72), and Teale (mean 3.53, SD 0.87). Mean engagement scores (section A) ranged from 2.33 (SD 0.69) for Reflexe reussite to 3.80 (SD 0.61) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean aesthetics scores (section C) ranged from 2.52 (SD 0.62) for Mental Booster to 3.89 (SD 0.69) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean information scores (section D) ranged from 2.00 (SD 0.75) for Mental Booster to 3.46 (SD 0.77) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean Mobile App Rating Scale subjective quality (section E) score varied from 1.22 (SD 0.26) for VOS – journal de l’humeur to 2.69 (SD 0.84) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean app specificity (section F) score varied from 1.56 (SD 0.97) for Mental Booster to 3.31 (SD 1.22) for Evoluno. For all the mental health apps studied, except Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (11/12, 92%), the subjective quality score was always lower than the app specificity score, which was always lower than the MARS-F quality score, and that was lower than the rating score from the iPhone Operating System or Android app stores.
ConclusionsMental health professionals assessed that, despite the lack of scientific evidence, the mental health mobile apps available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store were of good quality. However, they are reluctant to use them in their professional practice. Additional investigations are needed to assess their compliance with recommendations and their long-term impact on users. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8e1b2e749e3946c4949cf6d4eaffe227 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2291-5222 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| spelling | doaj.art-8e1b2e749e3946c4949cf6d4eaffe2272023-08-28T23:15:22ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR mHealth and uHealth2291-52222022-10-011010e4128210.2196/41282Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and QualityFlorence Carrouelhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6823-1636Benjamin du Sartz de Vigneulleshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2115-8141Denis Bourgeoishttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4754-2512Bernard Kabuthhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6909-0444Nicolas Baltenneckhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3987-9273Fanny Nusbaumhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0595-3105Valérie Burgehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3852-5481Sylvain Royhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6296-7485Sophie Buchheithttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3286-4976Marie-Line Carrion-Martinaudhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2695-7738Catherine Massoubrehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6690-3630Laurie Fraticellihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2647-658XClaude Dussarthttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1091-9139 BackgroundApproximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Approximately 20,000 mental health apps are listed in mobile app stores. However, no significant evaluation of mental health apps in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has been identified in the literature yet. ObjectiveThis study aims to review the mental health mobile apps currently available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store and to evaluate their quality using Mobile App Rating Scale–French (MARS-F). MethodsScreening of mental health apps was conducted from June 10, 2022, to June 17, 2022, on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A shortlist of 12 apps was identified using the criteria of selection and assessed using MARS-F by 9 mental health professionals. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate interrater agreement. Mean (SD) scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated. ResultsThe highest scores for MARS-F quality were obtained by Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (mean 3.85, SD 0.48), Evoluno (mean 3.54, SD 0.72), and Teale (mean 3.53, SD 0.87). Mean engagement scores (section A) ranged from 2.33 (SD 0.69) for Reflexe reussite to 3.80 (SD 0.61) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean aesthetics scores (section C) ranged from 2.52 (SD 0.62) for Mental Booster to 3.89 (SD 0.69) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean information scores (section D) ranged from 2.00 (SD 0.75) for Mental Booster to 3.46 (SD 0.77) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean Mobile App Rating Scale subjective quality (section E) score varied from 1.22 (SD 0.26) for VOS – journal de l’humeur to 2.69 (SD 0.84) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean app specificity (section F) score varied from 1.56 (SD 0.97) for Mental Booster to 3.31 (SD 1.22) for Evoluno. For all the mental health apps studied, except Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (11/12, 92%), the subjective quality score was always lower than the app specificity score, which was always lower than the MARS-F quality score, and that was lower than the rating score from the iPhone Operating System or Android app stores. ConclusionsMental health professionals assessed that, despite the lack of scientific evidence, the mental health mobile apps available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store were of good quality. However, they are reluctant to use them in their professional practice. Additional investigations are needed to assess their compliance with recommendations and their long-term impact on users.https://mhealth.jmir.org/2022/10/e41282 |
| spellingShingle | Florence Carrouel Benjamin du Sartz de Vigneulles Denis Bourgeois Bernard Kabuth Nicolas Baltenneck Fanny Nusbaum Valérie Burge Sylvain Roy Sophie Buchheit Marie-Line Carrion-Martinaud Catherine Massoubre Laurie Fraticelli Claude Dussart Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality JMIR mHealth and uHealth |
| title | Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality |
| title_full | Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality |
| title_fullStr | Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality |
| title_short | Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality |
| title_sort | mental health mobile apps in the french app store assessment study of functionality and quality |
| url | https://mhealth.jmir.org/2022/10/e41282 |
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