Client‐Centered Mobile Health Care Applications: Using the Mobile Application Rating Scale Instrument for Evidence‐Based Evaluation

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa A. Stec ◽  
Megan W. Arbour ◽  
Heather Findletar Hines
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mobile Health Care ◽  
Health Care Applications

scholarly journals Quality of Psychoeducational Apps for Military Members With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: An Evaluation Utilizing the Mobile Application Rating Scale (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Jones ◽  
Kaitlin O'Toole ◽  
Kevin Jones ◽  
Suzette Brémault-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Military Members ◽  
The Us

BACKGROUND Military personnel have an elevated risk of sustaining mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and postconcussion symptoms (PCS). Smartphone apps that provide psychoeducation may assist those with mTBI or PCS to overcome unique barriers that military personnel experience with stigma and access to health care resources. OBJECTIVE This study aims to (1) use the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) to evaluate smartphone apps purporting to provide psychoeducation for those who have sustained an mTBI or a PCS; (2) explore the relevance, utility, and effectiveness of these apps in facilitating symptom management and overall recovery from mTBI and PCS among military personnel; and (3) discuss considerations pertinent to health care professionals and patients with mTBI when considering the use of mobile health (mHealth), including apps for mTBI psychoeducation. METHODS A five-step systematic search for smartphone apps for military members with mTBI or PCS was conducted on January 31, 2020. Cost-free apps meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated using the MARS and compared with evidence-based best practice management protocols for mTBI and PCS. RESULTS The search yielded a total of 347 smartphone apps. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 apps were subjected to evaluation. Two apps were endorsed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Department of Defense; all the others (n=11) were developed for civilians. When compared with evidence-based best practice resources, the apps provided various levels of psychoeducational content. There are multiple considerations that health care professionals and those who sustain an mTBI or a PCS have to consider when choosing to use mHealth and selecting a specific app for mTBI psychoeducation. These may include factors such as the app platform, developer, internet requirement, cost, frequency of updates, language, additional features, acknowledgment of mental health, accessibility, military specificity, and privacy and security of data. CONCLUSIONS Psychoeducational interventions have a good evidence base as a treatment for mTBI and PCS. The use of apps for this purpose may be clinically effective, cost-effective, confidential, user friendly, and accessible. However, more research is needed to explore the effectiveness, usability, safety, security, and accessibility of apps designed for mTBI management.

A Sensor-Fusion Solution for Mobile Health-Care Applications

2015 ◽  
pp. 387-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Yi Lee ◽  
Kelvin Yi-Tse Lai ◽  
Shu-Yu Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Sensor Fusion ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Health Care ◽  
Health Care Applications

scholarly journals Development of interventions for an intelligent and individualized mobile health care system to promote healthy diet and physical activity: using an intervention mapping framework

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuling Chen ◽  
Fangqin Wu ◽  
Ying Wu ◽  
Jia Li ◽  
Peng Yue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Coronary Heart Disease ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Intervention Mapping ◽  
Healthy Diet ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Mobile Health Care ◽  
Diet And Physical Activity

Abstract Background The mortality of coronary heart disease can be largely reduced by modifying unhealthy lifestyles. However, the long-term effectiveness of interventions for modifying unhealthy diet and physical inactivity of patients with coronary heart disease remain unsatisfactory worldwide. This study aims to systematically design a set of theory-based and evidence-based, individualized, and intelligent interventions for promoting the adoption and maintenance of a healthy diet and physical activity level in patients with coronary heart disease. Methods The interventions will be delivered by a mobile health care system called Individualized, Intelligent and Integrated Cardiovascular Application for Risk Elimination. Three steps of the intervention mapping framework were used to systematically develop the interventions. Step 1: needs assessment, which was carried out by a literature review, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Step 2: development of objective matrix for diet and physical activity changes, based on the intersection of objectives and determinants from the Contemplation-Action-Maintenance behavior change model. Step 3: formulation of evidence-based methods and strategies, and practical applications, through a systematic review of existing literature, research team discussions, and consultation with multidisciplinary expert panels. Results Three needs relevant to content of the intervention, one need relevant to presentation modes of the intervention, and four needs relevant to functional features of the application were identified. The objective matrix includes three performance objectives, and 24 proximal performance objectives. The evidence-based and theory-based interventions include 31 strategies, 61 evidence-based methods, and 393 practical applications. Conclusions This article describes the development of theory-based and evidence-based interventions of the mobile health care system for promoting the adoption and maintenance of a healthy diet and physical activity level in a structured format. The results will provide a theoretical and methodological basis to explore the application of intervention mapping in developing effective behavioral mobile health interventions for patients with coronary heart disease. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR-INR-16010242. Registered 24 December 2016. http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx

scholarly journals Quality of Psychoeducational Apps for Military Members With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: An Evaluation Utilizing the Mobile Application Rating Scale

10.2196/19807 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. e19807
Author(s):  
Chelsea Jones ◽  
Kaitlin O'Toole ◽  
Kevin Jones ◽  
Suzette Brémault-Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Military Personnel ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Smartphone Apps ◽  
Military Members ◽  
The Us

Background Military personnel have an elevated risk of sustaining mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and postconcussion symptoms (PCS). Smartphone apps that provide psychoeducation may assist those with mTBI or PCS to overcome unique barriers that military personnel experience with stigma and access to health care resources. Objective This study aims to (1) use the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) to evaluate smartphone apps purporting to provide psychoeducation for those who have sustained an mTBI or a PCS; (2) explore the relevance, utility, and effectiveness of these apps in facilitating symptom management and overall recovery from mTBI and PCS among military personnel; and (3) discuss considerations pertinent to health care professionals and patients with mTBI when considering the use of mobile health (mHealth), including apps for mTBI psychoeducation. Methods A five-step systematic search for smartphone apps for military members with mTBI or PCS was conducted on January 31, 2020. Cost-free apps meeting the inclusion criteria were evaluated using the MARS and compared with evidence-based best practice management protocols for mTBI and PCS. Results The search yielded a total of 347 smartphone apps. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 apps were subjected to evaluation. Two apps were endorsed by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Department of Defense; all the others (n=11) were developed for civilians. When compared with evidence-based best practice resources, the apps provided various levels of psychoeducational content. There are multiple considerations that health care professionals and those who sustain an mTBI or a PCS have to consider when choosing to use mHealth and selecting a specific app for mTBI psychoeducation. These may include factors such as the app platform, developer, internet requirement, cost, frequency of updates, language, additional features, acknowledgment of mental health, accessibility, military specificity, and privacy and security of data. Conclusions Psychoeducational interventions have a good evidence base as a treatment for mTBI and PCS. The use of apps for this purpose may be clinically effective, cost-effective, confidential, user friendly, and accessible. However, more research is needed to explore the effectiveness, usability, safety, security, and accessibility of apps designed for mTBI management.

Psychometric evaluation of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yannik Terhorst ◽  
Paula Philippi ◽  
Lasse Sander ◽  
Dana Schultchen ◽  
Sarah Paganini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Concurrent Validity ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Psychometric Evaluation ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Health Domains ◽  
Psychometric Quality

BACKGROUND Mobile health apps (MHA) have the potential to improve health care. The commercial MHA market is rapidly growing, but the content and quality of available MHA are unknown. Consequently, instruments of high psychometric quality for the assessment of the quality and content of MHA are highly needed. The Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) is one of the most widely used tools to evaluate the quality of MHA in various health domains. Only few validation studies investigating its psychometric quality exist with selected samples of MHAs. No study has evaluated the construct validity of the MARS and concurrent validity to other instruments. OBJECTIVE This study evaluates the construct validity, concurrent validity, reliability, and objectivity, of the MARS. METHODS MARS scoring data was pooled from 15 international app quality reviews to evaluate the psychometric properties of the MARS. The MARS measures app quality across four dimensions: engagement, functionality, aesthetics and information quality. App quality is determined for each dimension and overall. Construct validity was evaluated by assessing related competing confirmatory models that were explored by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A combination of non-centrality (RMSEA), incremental (CFI, TLI) and residual (SRMR) fit indices was used to evaluate the goodness of fit. As a measure of concurrent validity, the correlations between the MARS and 1) another quality assessment tool called ENLIGHT, and 2) user star-rating extracted from app stores were investigated. Reliability was determined using Omega. Objectivity was assessed in terms of intra-class correlation. RESULTS In total, MARS ratings from 1,299 MHA covering 15 different health domains were pooled for the analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a bifactor model with a general quality factor and an additional factor for each subdimension (RMSEA=0.074, TLI=0.922, CFI=0.940, SRMR=0.059). Reliability was good to excellent (Omega 0.79 to 0.93). Objectivity was high (ICC=0.82). The overall MARS rating was positively associated with ENLIGHT (r=0.91, P<0.01) and user-ratings (r=0.14, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS he psychometric evaluation of the MARS demonstrated its suitability for the quality assessment of MHAs. As such, the MARS could be used to make the quality of MHA transparent to health care stakeholders and patients. Future studies could extend the present findings by investigating the re-test reliability and predictive validity of the MARS.

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