Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25600193›Full record

SynthesisJournal of medical systems2015

Empirical studies on usability of mHealth apps: a systematic literature review.

Belén Cruz Zapata, José Luis Fernández-Alemán, Ali Idri, Ambrosio Toval

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of medical systems, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 240 papers, 19 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
240citing papers in PubMed, 19 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

240 citing papers in PubMed, 19 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  19. Criteria for assessing the quality of mHealth apps: a systematic review.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2018
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180 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Belén Cruz ZapataDepartment of Informatics and Systems, Faculty of Computer Science, University of Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30080, Murcia, Spain, b.cruzzapata@um.es.
José Luis Fernández-Alemán
Ali Idri
Ambrosio Toval

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The release of smartphones and tablets, which offer more advanced communication and computing capabilities, has led to the strong emergence of mHealth on the market. mHealth systems are being used to improve patients' lives and their health, in addition to facilitating communication between doctors and patients. Researchers are now proposing mHealth applications for many health conditions such as dementia, autism, dysarthria, Parkinson's disease, and so on. Usability becomes a key factor in the adoption of these applications, which are often used by people who have problems when using mobile devices and who have a limited experience of technology. The aim of this paper is to investigate the empirical usability evaluation processes described in a total of 22 selected studies related to mHealth applications by means of a Systematic Literature Review. Our results show that the empirical evaluation methods employed as regards usability could be improved by the adoption of automated mechanisms. The evaluation processes should also be revised to combine more than one method. This paper will help researchers and developers to create more usable applications. Our study demonstrates the importance of adapting health applications to users' need.

Indexed as

Mobile ApplicationsResearch DesignUser-Computer InterfaceHumansSoftware DesignTelemedicine

Identifiers

PMID25600193

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.