Initial development and testing of a measure of credibility of mobile health apps: a clinical study among women seeking prenatal care

Background Mobile health apps are used to improve the quality of health care. These apps are changing the current scenario in health care, and their numbers are increasing. Objective We wanted to perform an analysis of the current status of mobile health technologies and apps for medical emergencies. We aimed to synthesize the existing body of knowledge to provide relevant insights for this topic. Moreover, we wanted to identify common threads and gaps to support new challenging, interesting, and relevant research directions. Methods We reviewed the main relevant papers and apps available in the literature. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology was used in this review. The search criteria were adopted using systematic methods to select papers and apps. On one hand, a bibliographic review was carried out in different search databases to collect papers related to each application in the health emergency field using defined criteria. On the other hand, a review of mobile apps in two virtual storage platforms (Google Play Store and Apple App Store) was carried out. The Google Play Store and Apple App Store are related to the Android and iOS operating systems, respectively. Results In the literature review, 28 papers in the field of medical emergency were included. These studies were collected and selected according to established criteria. Moreover, we proposed a taxonomy using six groups of applications. In total, 324 mobile apps were found, with 192 identified in the Google Play Store and 132 identified in the Apple App Store. Conclusions We found that all apps in the Google Play Store were free, and 73 apps in the Apple App Store were paid, with the price ranging from US $0.89 to US $5.99. Moreover, 39% (11/28) of the included studies were related to warning systems for emergency services and 21% (6/28) were associated with disaster management apps.

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Patient-Centric Structural Determinants of Adherence Rates Among Asthma Populations: Exploring the Potential of Patient Activation and Encouragement Tool TRUSTR to Improve Adherence

Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research ◽

10.36469/jheor.2020.13607 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Asim Zia ◽

Arthur Brassart ◽

Sheila Thomas ◽

Fen Ye ◽

Judith Stephenson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Data ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Medical Condition ◽

Total Effect ◽

Adherence Rate ◽

Administrative Claims ◽

Structural Determinants ◽

Health Apps ◽

Mobile Health Apps ◽

Patient Centric

Background: Lack of adherence with prescribed medications among the asthma populations exacerbates health outcomes and increases social and economic costs. Objectives: The proposed study aims to model patient-centric structural determinants of adherence rates among asthma patients and explore the potential of mobile health apps such as the TRUSTR platform to improve adherence using its power of monetary and non-monetary chatbotting and non-monetary nudges. Following specific hypotheses are tested: (1) Patient attributes, such as their age and medical condition, have significant effect on their adherence with the prescribed treatment plans. (2) Behavioral nudging with rewards and engagement via mobile health apps will increase adherence rates. Methods: The patient population (N= 37 359) consists of commercially insured patients with asthma who have been identified from administrative claims in the HealthCore Integrated Research Database (HIRD) between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019. Two Structural Equation Models (SEMs) are estimated to quantify direct, indirect and total effect sizes of age and medical condition on proportion of days covered (PDC) and medical possession ratio (MPR), mediated by patient medical and pharmacy visits. Fourteen additional SEMs were estimated to lateralize TRUSTR findings and conduct sensitivity analysis. Results: HIRD data reveal mean adherence rate of 59% (standard deviation (SD) 29%) for PDC and 58% for MPR (SD 36%). Key structural findings from SEMs derived from the HIRD dataset indicate that each additional year in the age of the patient has a positive total effect on the adherence rate. Patients with poor medical condition are likely to have lower adherence rate, but this direct effect is countered by mediating variables. Further, each additional reward and higher engagement with a mobile app is likely to have a positive total effect on increasing the adherence rate. Conclusions: HIRD data reveal mean adherence rate of 59% (SD 29%), providing the evidence for the opportunity to increase adherence rate by around 40%. Statistical modeling results reveal structural determinants, such as the opportunity to nudge, are higher among younger patients, as they have higher probability of being non-adherent. Methodologically, lateralization approach demonstrates the potential to capture real-world evidence beyond clinical data and merge it with clinical data.

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Healthcare Providers’ perceptions on desired attributes for mobile health Apps: A qualitative evidence review

International Journal Of Medical Science And Clinical Invention ◽

10.18535/ijmsci/v5i12.02 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Annah Rufu ◽

◽

Kudakwashe Chitindingu ◽

Keyword(s):

Mobile Health ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Health Apps ◽

Qualitative Evidence ◽

Mobile Health Apps ◽

Evidence Review

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Smartphone Users’ Persuasion Knowledge in the Context of Consumer Mobile Health Apps: In-Depth Interviews (Preprint)

JMIR mhealth and uhealth ◽

10.2196/16518 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Eunsin Joo ◽

Anastasia Kononova ◽

Shaheen Kanthawala ◽

Wei Peng ◽

Shelia Cotten

Keyword(s):

Mobile Health ◽

Persuasion Knowledge ◽

Health Apps ◽

Mobile Health Apps ◽

Depth Interviews

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Abstract 13206: Blood Pressure Apps: Do They Educate the Lay Public About Risk Factors?

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.142.suppl_3.13206 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽

Author(s):

Arunima Vijay ◽

Gloria Wu

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Blood Pressure ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Health Apps ◽

Hypertension Risk ◽

Apple Ios ◽

Mobile Health Apps ◽

Google Play ◽

Lay Public ◽

Mood Depression

Introduction: Hypertension affects 108 million Americans. To help track and manage hypertension, there are many free and popular mobile health apps that track BP. Hypothesis: BP tracking mobile health apps have many downloads but do not fully educate the public about hypertension risk factors. Methods: “Blood Pressure” as a search term was used in the Google Play and Apple iOS stores to identify the most popular, free BP tracking apps aimed at the lay public. The top 10 most popular, free apps on each store were evaluated for educating the lay public on hypertension risk factors. Inclusion criteria: top 10 free blood pressure (BP) apps, by highest number of downloads on Google Play and highest rating (out of five stars) on Apple iOS Store (no available data on iOS downloads). Exclusion criteria: non-English, requiring a wearable device, primary purpose other BP tracking. Results: Of top 20 apps: BP log: 19/20, BP ranges: 13/20, height: 5/20, weight: 8/20, BMI: 3/20, race: 1/20, gender: 4/20, age: 6/20, diet: 1/20, exercise: 1/20, medication: 4/20, diabetes: 1/20, FBS: 1/20, goals: 3/20, mood/depression: 1/20. 2 apps mentioned the American Heart Association (AHA). None of the apps had information on cvriskcalculator.com, family history, cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, HbA1c, and alcohol use. Conclusion: Most free and popular BP apps monitor BP but largely ignore hypertension risk factors such as cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides, alcohol intake, mood/depression, race, and gender. Furthermore, 7/20 apps do not uniformly educate patients that a normal BP is <120/<80, in accordance with the AHA and ACC guidelines. More collaboration may be needed between physicians and software developers to educate and meet the needs of our hypertensive patients in America.

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An Integrated Approach Towards Developing Quality Mobile Health Apps for Cancer

Advances in Healthcare Information Systems and Administration - Mobile Health Applications for Quality Healthcare Delivery ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-8021-8.ch003 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 46-71 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Angelina Kouroubali ◽

Lefteris Koumakis ◽

Haridimos Kondylakis ◽

Dimitrios G. Katehakis

Keyword(s):

Cancer Patients ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Integrated Approach ◽

Coordinated Care ◽

Cancer Disease ◽

Health Apps ◽

Related Information ◽

Patient Health ◽

Health Related ◽

Mobile Health Apps

The ever-growing demand for acquiring, managing, and exploiting patient health-related information has led to the development of several mobile health apps to support cancer patients. This chapter analyzes the clinical and technological characteristics of mobile apps enabling cancer patients to securely record, manage, and share their information online. It discusses issues relevant to increasing patient experience and acceptance, improving adherence to treatment, and effective support of coordinated care. Outcomes of recent research projects relevant to end user digital engagement, trust, interoperability, and usability/adaptability lead to an integrated approach towards developing quality mobile health apps. Improving quality of life and wellbeing in a secure and safe manner that respects the patients' privacy seems to be the key challenge. Regulation, standardization, and interoperability together with the existence of useful, accurate, and reliable tools for active patient engagement are imperative for efficient cancer disease management.

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