Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores
BackgroundDespite the availability of thousands of health apps worldwide, when considering those addressing children’s first 1000 days of life, most apps fail to consider the continuity between the prenatal and postnatal stages, and their joint impact on maternal and child he...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2021/8/e29151 |
| _version_ | 1827859125510340608 |
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| author | Laura Brunelli Chiara De Vita Fabrizio Cenedese Michela Cinello Marta Paris Francesca Samogizio Anja Starec Michele Bava Margherita Dal Cin Sara Zanchiello Tamara Stampalija |
| author_facet | Laura Brunelli Chiara De Vita Fabrizio Cenedese Michela Cinello Marta Paris Francesca Samogizio Anja Starec Michele Bava Margherita Dal Cin Sara Zanchiello Tamara Stampalija |
| author_sort | Laura Brunelli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundDespite the availability of thousands of health apps worldwide, when considering those addressing children’s first 1000 days of life, most apps fail to consider the continuity between the prenatal and postnatal stages, and their joint impact on maternal and child health. The reliability, quality, and effectiveness of these apps are largely unknown, and the provided content seems questionable in terms of completeness, updating, and trustworthiness.
ObjectiveThis study evaluates available Italian pregnancy and postnatal care apps to highlight the main gaps to be overcome and the resulting future challenges to be met in this mobile health–related field.
MethodsA systematic search was conducted on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and basic information was collected for all identified apps. After deduplication and further selection based on the exclusion criteria, an in-depth analysis of each app was performed by two researchers independently. A 71-item six-domain questionnaire about the desirable features of apps was used to assess information, functionalities, and technical features, while the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) was employed for app quality evaluation.
ResultsFrom an initial sample of 684 apps, 22 were deeply analyzed. Most apps did not fulfill the expectations, as just one achieved 50% of all desirable aspects. Postnatal care and counselling for both the mother and child was the least accomplished domain. Moreover, the quality of app information was generally rated more negatively than the quality of their functionality and esthetic features. The lacking aspects were information about methods for postpartum family planning and birth spacing (1/22, 5%) and immunization (2/22, 9%).
ConclusionsThe identified gaps could serve as a basis for designing and implementing increasingly high-quality, targeted, and effective apps for pregnancy and postnatal health care, which provide comprehensive, reliable, and evidence-based information, as well as appropriate esthetic and functional characteristics, with relevant implications in terms of maternal and newborn health prevention and promotion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:04:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-df49cf3ce6fd4e7d9a732961eb339d3d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T13:04:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-df49cf3ce6fd4e7d9a732961eb339d3d2023-08-28T18:29:27ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712021-08-01238e2915110.2196/29151Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App StoresLaura Brunellihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5475-0021Chiara De Vitahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8486-4062Fabrizio Cenedesehttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1171-9312Michela Cinellohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7172-6744Marta Parishttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4261-4858Francesca Samogiziohttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8890-1791Anja Starechttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6409-573XMichele Bavahttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4740-2915Margherita Dal Cinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-7521-3380Sara Zanchiellohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1965-3477Tamara Stampalijahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9080-3848 BackgroundDespite the availability of thousands of health apps worldwide, when considering those addressing children’s first 1000 days of life, most apps fail to consider the continuity between the prenatal and postnatal stages, and their joint impact on maternal and child health. The reliability, quality, and effectiveness of these apps are largely unknown, and the provided content seems questionable in terms of completeness, updating, and trustworthiness. ObjectiveThis study evaluates available Italian pregnancy and postnatal care apps to highlight the main gaps to be overcome and the resulting future challenges to be met in this mobile health–related field. MethodsA systematic search was conducted on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, and basic information was collected for all identified apps. After deduplication and further selection based on the exclusion criteria, an in-depth analysis of each app was performed by two researchers independently. A 71-item six-domain questionnaire about the desirable features of apps was used to assess information, functionalities, and technical features, while the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) was employed for app quality evaluation. ResultsFrom an initial sample of 684 apps, 22 were deeply analyzed. Most apps did not fulfill the expectations, as just one achieved 50% of all desirable aspects. Postnatal care and counselling for both the mother and child was the least accomplished domain. Moreover, the quality of app information was generally rated more negatively than the quality of their functionality and esthetic features. The lacking aspects were information about methods for postpartum family planning and birth spacing (1/22, 5%) and immunization (2/22, 9%). ConclusionsThe identified gaps could serve as a basis for designing and implementing increasingly high-quality, targeted, and effective apps for pregnancy and postnatal health care, which provide comprehensive, reliable, and evidence-based information, as well as appropriate esthetic and functional characteristics, with relevant implications in terms of maternal and newborn health prevention and promotion.https://www.jmir.org/2021/8/e29151 |
| spellingShingle | Laura Brunelli Chiara De Vita Fabrizio Cenedese Michela Cinello Marta Paris Francesca Samogizio Anja Starec Michele Bava Margherita Dal Cin Sara Zanchiello Tamara Stampalija Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores |
| title_full | Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores |
| title_fullStr | Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores |
| title_short | Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores |
| title_sort | gaps and future challenges of italian apps for pregnancy and postnatal care systematic search on app stores |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2021/8/e29151 |
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