Digitized HIV/AIDS Treatment Adherence Interventions: A Review of Recent SMS/Texting Mobile Health Applications and Implications for Theory and Practice

Abstract Background Despite the increasing number of mobile health applications, the validity of their content is understudied. The objective of this study was to rate the content of HIV/AIDS-related mobile applications and to determine the extent to which evidence-based medicine is being incorporated into their content using a new tool called the Evidence-based content rating tool of mobile health applications (EBCRT-mHealth). Methods All available HIV/AIDS-related applications in Iran from Cafe Bazaar and Google Play Store were evaluated. This study was first conducted in 2018, then after almost two years in 2021 was done again. In this study, researchers developed the EBCRT-mHealth tool to rate the content of applications based on the evidence-based medicine pyramid. Its reliability was calculated (α = 0.78), and five specialists confirmed its validity. Two reviewers independently reviewed all HIV/AIDS applications directly downloaded and installed from the Google Play Store and Cafe Bazaar. Results Out of 980 retrieved applications, in 2018, 85, and in 2021, 78 applications were included in the study. Only in 17 (28%) out of the 60 in 2018, and 25 (51%) in 2021 Google Play store applications the source of content information was mentioned. All Cafe Bazaar mobile applications mentioned the source of information. The mean rating of all application content in 2018 was 2.38 (SD = 0.74), and in 2021 was 2.90 (SD = 1.35) out of 5. The mean rating of the content of Cafe Bazaar applications in 2018 was 2.10 (SD = 0.49), and in 2021 was 1.94 (SD = 0.29). The mean content rating of Google Play store applications in 2018 was 2.50 (SD = 0.80) and in 2021 was 3.86 (SD = 1.18). Conclusion After two years, the rating of the content of HIV/AIDS-related applications available in Iran that existed in Cafe Bazaar decreased from "poor" to "inappropriate". Also, the content score of the Google Play Store applications increased from "poor" to "good". It is critical to ensure the credibility of the sources used in developing their content and removing applications with inappropriate and unreliable content from the App Stores. Also, mobile health application developers should use the highest quality information in their applications.

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Gamification: An Innovative Way to Enhance Health Behaviors for people Living with HIV/AIDs Via Mobile Health Appliacations

10.28971/442020sc135 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chan Sreypouv

Keyword(s):

Rhode Island ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Hiv Care ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Digital Platforms ◽

Ryan White ◽

Mobile Health Applications ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Health Applications ◽

Hiv Aids

Mobile health applications are known as any wireless technology in medical care and have been considered as one of innovative ways to assist and engage patients in care. This project focused on mobile health applications that were designed specifically for HIV medication adherence and to serve People Living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) with their HIV care in Rhode Island (RI) Ryan White Part B program, a federal program that provide HIV care to PLWHA (HRSA,2019). RI-Ryan White program partnered with 360 Medlink, Inc. (a software development company) developed and delivered two advanced digital platforms called TAVIE-HIV (an application with no gamification) and TAVIE-RED (an application with gamification) to Ryan White’s clients in RI.

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Gamification: An Innovative Way to Enhance Health Behaviors for people Living with HIV/AIDs Via Mobile Health Appliacations

10.28971/142020sc135 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Chan Sreypouv

Keyword(s):

Rhode Island ◽

Mobile Health ◽

Hiv Care ◽

People Living With Hiv ◽

Digital Platforms ◽

Ryan White ◽

Mobile Health Applications ◽

Living With Hiv ◽

Health Applications ◽

Hiv Aids

Mobile health applications are known as any wireless technology in medical care and have been considered as one of innovative ways to assist and engage patients in care. This project focused on mobile health applications that were designed specifically for HIV medication adherence and to serve People Living with HIV/AIDs (PLWHA) with their HIV care in Rhode Island (RI) Ryan White Part B program, a federal program that provide HIV care to PLWHA (HRSA,2019). RI-Ryan White program partnered with 360 Medlink, Inc. (a software development company) developed and delivered two advanced digital platforms called TAVIE-HIV (an application with no gamification) and TAVIE-RED (an application with gamification) to Ryan White’s clients in RI.

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Malaria Geo-Localization with Mobile-Health Applications

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2708159 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Roberto Moro Visconti ◽

Alberto Larocca ◽

Michele Marconi

Keyword(s):

Mobile Health ◽

Mobile Health Applications ◽

Health Applications

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EFFECTIVNESS OF SPECIFIC MOBILE HEALTH APPLICATIONS (mHEALTH-APPS)in GESTATIONAL DIABTETES MELLITUS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.23016 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Claudia Eberle ◽

Maxine Löhnert

Keyword(s):

Mobile Health ◽

Cochrane Library ◽

Clinical Parameters ◽

Control Groups ◽

Manual Search ◽

Mobile Health Applications ◽

Short And Long Term ◽

Mhealth Apps ◽

Health Applications

BACKGROUND Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) emerges worldwide and is closely associated with short- and long-term health issues in women and their offspring, such as pregnancy and birth complications respectively comorbidities, Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) as well as cardiovascular disease (CD). Against this background mobile health applications (mHealth-Apps) do open up new possibilities to improve the management of GDM clearly. OBJECTIVE Since there is – to our knowledge – no systematic literature review published, which focusses on the effectiveness of specific mHealth-Apps on clinical health-related short and long-term outcomes of mother and child, we conducted these much-needed analyses. METHODS Data sources: A systematic literature search in Medline (Pubmed), Cochrane Library, Embase, CINAHL and Web of Science was performed including full text publications since 2008 up to date. An additional manual search in references and Google Scholar was conducted subsequently. Study Eligibility Criteria: Women diagnosed with GDM using specific mHealth-Apps during pregnancy compared to control groups, which met main clinical parameters and outcomes in GDM management as well as maternity and offspring care. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: Study quality was assessed and rated “strong”, “moderate” or “weak” by using the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tool. Study results were strongly categorized by outcomes; an additional qualitative summary was assessed. Study selection: Overall, n= 114 studies were analyzed, n= 46 duplicates were removed, n=5 studies met the eligible criteria and n=1 study was assessed by manual search subsequently. In total, n=6 publications, analyzing n=408 GDM patients in the interventional and n=405 women diagnosed with GDM in the control groups, were included. These studies were divided into n=5 two-arm randomized controlled trials (RCT) and n=1 controlled clinical trial (CCT). RESULTS Distinct improvements in clinical parameters and outcomes, such as fasting blood glucoses (FBG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucoses (PBG), off target blood glucose measurements (OTBG), delivery modes and patient compliance were analyzed in GDM patients using specific mHealth-Apps compared to matched control groups. CONCLUSIONS mHealth-Apps clearly improve clinical outcomes in management of GDM effectively. More studies need to be done more in detail.

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Mobile Health Applications to Support COVID-19 Self-management: Review and Evaluation

Applied Health Information Technology ◽

10.18502/ahit.v2i2.7992 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sahar Khenarinezhad ◽

Ehsan Ghazanfari Savadkoohi ◽

Leila Shahmoradi

Keyword(s):

Mobile Health ◽

Mobile Apps ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Vital Signs ◽

Complete Information ◽

Self Management ◽

Management Measures ◽

Management Procedures ◽

Mobile Health Applications ◽

Health Applications

Aim: During the epidemic and with an increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) disease prevalence, emergency care is essential to help people stay informed and undertake self-management measures to protect their health. One of these self-management procedures is the use of mobile apps in health. Mobile health (mHealth) applications include mobile devices in collecting clinical health data, sharing healthcare information for practitioners and patients, real-time monitoring of patient vital signs, and the direct provision of care (via mobile telemedicine). Mobile apps are increasing to improve health, but before healthcare providers can recommend these applications to patients, they need to be sure the apps will help change patients' lifestyles. Method: A search was conducted systematically using the keywords "Covid-19," "Coronavirus," "Covid-19, and Self-management" at the "Apple App Store". Then we evaluated the apps according to MARS criteria in May 2020. Results: A total of 145 apps for COVID-19 self-management were identified, but only 32 apps met our inclusion criteria after being assessed. The overall mean MARS score was 2.9 out of 5, and more than half of the apps had a minimum acceptability score (range 2.5-3.9). The "who academy" app received the highest functionality score. Who Academy, Corona-Care and First Responder COVID-19 Guide had the highest scores for behavior change. Conclusion: Our findings showed that few apps meet the quality, content, and functionality criteria for Covid-19 self-management. Therefore, developers should use evidence-based medical guidelines in creating mobile health applications so that, they can provide comprehensive and complete information to both patients and healthcare provider.

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