scholarly journals Comprehensively Addressing Postpartum Maternal Health: a Content and Image Review of Commercially Available Mobile Health Apps

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Tucker ◽  
Alan Cuevas Villagomez ◽  
Tamar Krishnamurti
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quality Score ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Mobile Health Apps ◽  
Google Play

Abstract Background: The United States is currently facing a maternal morbidity and mortality crisis, with the highest rates of any resource-rich nation. In efforts to address this, new guidelines for postpartum care suggest that mobile health apps can help provide complementary clinical support for new mothers during the postpartum period. However, to date no study has evaluated existing mobile health tools targeted to this time period for sufficiency of maternal health information, inclusivity of people of color, or accessibility to users.Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were used to review the peripartum apps from the Apple and Google Play stores in either the Health/Fitness, Medical, or Education categories. Apps were then evaluated for extent and quality of maternal health information, inclusivity of people of color, and accessibility to app users.Results: Of the 301 apps from the Apple and Google Play stores, 25 met criteria for final evaluation. Of the 30 maternal health topics coded for, the median number addressed by apps was 19.5 (65%). Peripartum behaviors were more frequently addressed than peripartum outpatient care topics and peripartum acute health risks. The amount of maternal health information correlated positively with the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) quality score of the app, and inclusivity of people of color in app imagery also correlated positively with the MARS quality score. Only 8 apps (32%) portrayed greater than 24% images of people of color- the percent of non-white Americans according to 2019 census estimates. There was no correlation between number of users as estimated by number of store ratings and MARS quality. In addition, apps with clinical authority had greater MARS engagement, information, aesthetics, and quality scores, but did not have greater numbers of store ratings.Conclusions: Current commercially available peripartum apps overall do not provide adequate maternal health information, are not inclusive of women of color, and are not optimally accessible to the target users. Apps authored with clinical authority and higher-quality apps, by MARS score, are more likely to meet these standards, but are not more likely to be downloaded and used.

scholarly journals Comprehensively addressing postpartum maternal health: A content and image review of commercially available mobile health apps

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Tucker ◽  
Alan Cuevas Villagomez ◽  
Tamar Krishnamurti
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Quality Score ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Mobile Health Apps ◽  
Google Play

Abstract Background: The United States is currently facing a maternal morbidity and mortality crisis, with the highest rates of any resource-rich nation. In efforts to address this, new guidelines for postpartum care suggest that mobile health apps can help provide complementary clinical support for new mothers during the postpartum period. However, to date no study has evaluated existing mobile health tools targeted to this time period for sufficiency of maternal health information, inclusivity of people of color, or accessibility to users.Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were used to review the peripartum apps from the Apple and Google Play stores in either the Health/Fitness, Medical, or Education categories. Apps were then evaluated for extent and quality of maternal health information, inclusivity of people of color, and accessibility to app users.Results: Of the 301 apps from the Apple and Google Play stores, 25 met criteria for final evaluation. Of the 30 maternal health topics coded for, the median number addressed by apps was 19.5 (65%). Peripartum behaviors were more frequently addressed than peripartum outpatient care topics and peripartum acute health risks. The amount of maternal health information correlated positively with the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) quality score of the app, and inclusivity of people of color in app imagery also correlated positively with the MARS quality score. Only 8 apps (32%) portrayed greater than 24% images of people of color- the percent of non-white Americans according to 2019 census estimates. There was no correlation between number of users as estimated by number of store ratings and MARS quality. In addition, apps with clinical authority had greater MARS engagement, information, aesthetics, and quality scores, but did not have greater numbers of store ratings.Conclusions: Current commercially available peripartum apps overall do not provide adequate maternal health information, are not inclusive of women of color, and are not optimally accessible to the target users. Apps authored with clinical authority and higher-quality apps, by MARS score, are more likely to meet these standards, but are not more likely to be downloaded and used.

scholarly journals Comprehensively addressing postpartum maternal health: a content and image review of commercially available mobile health apps

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Tucker ◽  
Alan Cuevas Villagomez ◽  
Tamar Krishnamurti
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Health ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Or Education ◽  
Google Play

Abstract Background The United States is currently facing a maternal morbidity and mortality crisis, with the highest rates of any resource-rich nation. In efforts to address this, new guidelines for postpartum care suggest that mobile health (mHealth) apps can help provide complementary clinical support for new mothers during the postpartum period. However, to date no study has evaluated the quality of existing mHealth tools targeted to this time period in terms of sufficiency of maternal health information, inclusivity of people of color, and app usability. Methods Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) standards were used to review the peripartum apps from the Apple and Google Play stores in either the Health/Fitness, Medical, or Education categories. Apps were evaluated for extent and quality of maternal health information and inclusivity of people of color using an a priori coding scheme. App usability was evaluated using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) score. Results Of the 301 apps from the Apple and Google Play stores, 25 met criteria for final evaluation. Of the 30 maternal health topics coded for, the median number addressed by apps was 19.5 (65%). Peripartum behaviors were more frequently addressed than peripartum outpatient care topics and peripartum acute health risks. The coverage of maternal health information and inclusivity of people of color in app imagery both correlated positively with the MARS usability score of the app. Only 8 apps (32%) portrayed greater than 24% images of people of color- the percent of non-white Americans according to 2019 census estimates. There was no correlation between MARS usability score and number of app users, as estimated by number of ratings for the app available on the app store. In addition, apps with evidence-based maternal health information had greater MARS engagement, information, and aesthetics scores. However, presence of evidence-based information did not correlate with greater numbers of app users. Conclusions Current commercially available peripartum apps range widely in quality. Overall current app offerings generally do not provide adequate maternal health information and are not optimally accessible to the target users in terms of inclusivity of women of color or app usability. Apps delivering evidence-based information and more usable design are more likely to meet these standards but are not more likely to be downloaded by users.

scholarly journals Mobile Health Apps for Medical Emergencies: Systematic Review

10.2196/18513 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e18513
Author(s):  
Alejandro Plaza Roncero ◽  
Gonçalo Marques ◽  
Beatriz Sainz-De-Abajo ◽  
Francisco Martín-Rodríguez ◽  
Carlos del Pozo Vegas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
App Store ◽  
Mobile Health Apps ◽  
Medical Emergencies ◽  
Google Play

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.

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

Circulation ◽  
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.

Nick Noguez and Michael Gonzalez Discuss their Research Project: Are Social Features in Mobile Health Apps Effective in Engaging Users? A Content Analysis of Smoking Cessation Mobile Apps

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Noguez And Michael Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Mobile App ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Social Features ◽  
Mobile Health Apps

  Despite the ubiquity of smartphone ownership and the increasing integration of social engagement features in smoking cessation apps to engage users, thesocial engagement features that exist in current smoking cessation apps and how effective these social features are in engaging users remain unclear. To fill the gap in the literature, a content analysis of free and paid smoking cessation mobile apps isconducted to examine a) the presence of socialengagement features(e.g., social support, social announcement, social referencing) and non-social engagement features (e.g., personal environmental changes, goal setting), and b) their relationship with user ratingsand engagement scores (e.g., Mobile App rating scale [MARS]). The findings will not only extend the mobile health apps engagement typology,but also inform smoking cessation mobile apps design.

scholarly journals Theme Trends and Knowledge Structure on Mobile Health Apps: Bibliometric Analysis

10.2196/18212 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. e18212
Author(s):  
Cheng Peng ◽  
Miao He ◽  
Sarah L Cutrona ◽  
Catarina I Kiefe ◽  
Feifan Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
System Development ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Mobile Health Apps ◽  
The University

Background Due to the widespread and unprecedented popularity of mobile phones, the use of digital medicine and mobile health apps has seen significant growth. Mobile health apps have tremendous potential for monitoring and treating diseases, improving patient care, and promoting health. Objective This paper aims to explore research trends, coauthorship networks, and the research hot spots of mobile health app research. Methods Publications related to mobile health apps were retrieved and extracted from the Web of Science database with no language restrictions. Bibliographic Item Co-Occurrence Matrix Builder was employed to extract bibliographic information (publication year and journal source) and perform a descriptive analysis. We then used the VOSviewer (Leiden University) tool to construct and visualize the co-occurrence networks of researchers, research institutions, countries/regions, citations, and keywords. Results We retrieved 2802 research papers on mobile health apps published from 2000 to 2019. The number of annual publications increased over the past 19 years. JMIR mHealth and uHealth (323/2802, 11.53%), Journal of Medical Internet Research (106/2802, 3.78%), and JMIR Research Protocols (82/2802, 2.93%) were the most common journals for these publications. The United States (1186/2802, 42.33%), England (235/2802, 8.39%), Australia (215/2802, 7.67%), and Canada (112/2802, 4.00%) were the most productive countries of origin. The University of California San Francisco, the University of Washington, and the University of Toronto were the most productive institutions. As for the authors’ contributions, Schnall R, Kuhn E, Lopez-Coronado M, and Kim J were the most active researchers. The co-occurrence cluster analysis of the top 100 keywords forms 5 clusters: (1) the technology and system development of mobile health apps; (2) mobile health apps for mental health; (3) mobile health apps in telemedicine, chronic disease, and medication adherence management; (4) mobile health apps in health behavior and health promotion; and (5) mobile health apps in disease prevention via the internet. Conclusions We summarize the recent advances in mobile health app research and shed light on their research frontier, trends, and hot topics through bibliometric analysis and network visualization. These findings may provide valuable guidance on future research directions and perspectives in this rapidly developing field.

scholarly journals Mobile Health Apps for Medical Emergencies: Systematic Review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Plaza Roncero ◽  
Gonçalo Marques ◽  
Beatriz Sainz-De-Abajo ◽  
Francisco Martín-Rodríguez ◽  
Carlos del Pozo Vegas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
App Store ◽  
Mobile Health Apps ◽  
Medical Emergencies ◽  
Google Play

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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