Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores
BackgroundGastrointestinal diseases are associated with substantial cost in health care. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic and further digitalization of gastrointestinal tract health care, mobile health apps could complement routine health care. Many gastrointestinal health c...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2022/10/e37497 |
| _version_ | 1797734663930773504 |
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| author | Eva-Maria Messner Niklas Sturm Yannik Terhorst Lasse B Sander Dana Schultchen Alexandra Portenhauser Simone Schmidbaur Michael Stach Jochen Klaus Harald Baumeister Benjamin M Walter |
| author_facet | Eva-Maria Messner Niklas Sturm Yannik Terhorst Lasse B Sander Dana Schultchen Alexandra Portenhauser Simone Schmidbaur Michael Stach Jochen Klaus Harald Baumeister Benjamin M Walter |
| author_sort | Eva-Maria Messner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundGastrointestinal diseases are associated with substantial cost in health care. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic and further digitalization of gastrointestinal tract health care, mobile health apps could complement routine health care. Many gastrointestinal health care apps are already available in the app stores, but the quality, data protection, and reliability often remain unclear.
ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to evaluate the quality characteristics as well as the privacy and security measures of mobile health apps for the management of gastrointestinal diseases.
MethodsA web crawler systematically searched for mobile health apps with a focus on gastrointestinal diseases. The identified mobile health apps were evaluated using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). Furthermore, app characteristics, data protection, and security measures were collected. Classic user star rating was correlated with overall mobile health app quality.
ResultsThe overall quality of the mobile health apps (N=109) was moderate (mean 2.90, SD 0.52; on a scale ranging from 1 to 5). The quality of the subscales ranged from low (mean 1.89, SD 0.66) to good (mean 4.08, SD 0.57). The security of data transfer was ensured only by 11 (10.1%) mobile health apps. None of the mobile health apps had an evidence base. The user star rating did not correlate with the MARS overall score or with the individual subdimensions of the MARS (all P>.05).
ConclusionsMobile health apps might have a positive impact on diagnosis, therapy, and patient guidance in gastroenterology in the future. We conclude that, to date, data security and proof of efficacy are not yet given in currently available mobile health apps. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9e9b5fde2c7444e387d3afb0bcef20a0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T12:47:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-10-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-9e9b5fde2c7444e387d3afb0bcef20a02023-08-28T23:13:36ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712022-10-012410e3749710.2196/37497Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App StoresEva-Maria Messnerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6100-8354Niklas Sturmhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9219-0099Yannik Terhorsthttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4091-5048Lasse B Sanderhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4222-9837Dana Schultchenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5623-535XAlexandra Portenhauserhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2946-3474Simone Schmidbaurhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4049-3474Michael Stachhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9422-5523Jochen Klaushttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1434-2867Harald Baumeisterhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2040-661XBenjamin M Walterhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7356-024X BackgroundGastrointestinal diseases are associated with substantial cost in health care. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic and further digitalization of gastrointestinal tract health care, mobile health apps could complement routine health care. Many gastrointestinal health care apps are already available in the app stores, but the quality, data protection, and reliability often remain unclear. ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to evaluate the quality characteristics as well as the privacy and security measures of mobile health apps for the management of gastrointestinal diseases. MethodsA web crawler systematically searched for mobile health apps with a focus on gastrointestinal diseases. The identified mobile health apps were evaluated using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). Furthermore, app characteristics, data protection, and security measures were collected. Classic user star rating was correlated with overall mobile health app quality. ResultsThe overall quality of the mobile health apps (N=109) was moderate (mean 2.90, SD 0.52; on a scale ranging from 1 to 5). The quality of the subscales ranged from low (mean 1.89, SD 0.66) to good (mean 4.08, SD 0.57). The security of data transfer was ensured only by 11 (10.1%) mobile health apps. None of the mobile health apps had an evidence base. The user star rating did not correlate with the MARS overall score or with the individual subdimensions of the MARS (all P>.05). ConclusionsMobile health apps might have a positive impact on diagnosis, therapy, and patient guidance in gastroenterology in the future. We conclude that, to date, data security and proof of efficacy are not yet given in currently available mobile health apps.https://www.jmir.org/2022/10/e37497 |
| spellingShingle | Eva-Maria Messner Niklas Sturm Yannik Terhorst Lasse B Sander Dana Schultchen Alexandra Portenhauser Simone Schmidbaur Michael Stach Jochen Klaus Harald Baumeister Benjamin M Walter Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores |
| title_full | Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores |
| title_fullStr | Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores |
| title_short | Mobile Apps for the Management of Gastrointestinal Diseases: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores |
| title_sort | mobile apps for the management of gastrointestinal diseases systematic search and evaluation within app stores |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2022/10/e37497 |
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