ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2017
Methods for Evaluating the Content, Usability, and Efficacy of Commercial Mobile Health Apps.
Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 73 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
73 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Adherence to Usability and Accessibility Principles in Digital Health Applications for Patients With Diabetes: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Tools for Evaluating the Content, Efficacy, and Usability of Mobile Health Apps According to the Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Pooled it
- Towards Understanding the Usability Attributes of AI-Enabled eHealth Mobile Applications.Journal of healthcare engineering · 2021Pooled it
- Methods and Evaluation Criteria for Apps and Digital Interventions for Diabetes Self-Management: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Pooled it
- Testing a Web-Based Interactive Comic Tool to Decrease Obesity Risk Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Preadolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Establishing a usability cut-point for the health information technology usability evaluation scale (Health-ITUES).International journal of medical informatics · 2022Trial
- Digitizing a Travel Health Resource: Lessons Learned From Implementing a User Experience Framework to Improve a Travel Health Website.Health promotion practice · 2026Article
- The FemTech revolution: Unlocking the potential of new technology for optimizing pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and remote areas.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- An Automated Curriculum to Support Behavioral Health Counseling Among Pediatric Residents: Usability Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Applying a multi-level usability framework for evaluation of a pregnancy health promotion app.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2026Article
- Mobile Apps for Oncology Health Care Professionals: Mapping and Assessment Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Mobile Applications for Sepsis-Related Healthcare: A Systematic Search and Evaluation Within App Stores.Health science reports · 2026Article
- What do women value in a maternal education app? A sequential mixed-methods study on user perspectives of EMAeHealth.European journal of midwifery · 2026Article
- What Matters Most to Veterans When Deciding to Use Technology for Health: Cross-Sectional Analysis of a National Survey.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Feasibility of a Mobile Application for Self and Assisted Reporting of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Self-Testing Results in Tanzania: A Pilot Study.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Article
- Integrating a Mobile App to Enhance Atrial Fibrillation Care: Key Insights From an Implementation Study Guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Exploring Usability of a Clinical Decision Support System for Cancer Care: A User-Centered Study.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Practicality of the My Baby Now App for Fathers by Fathers: Qualitative Case Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Article
- Unpacking Performance Factors of Innovation Systems and Studying Germany's Attempt to Foster the Role of the Patient Through a Market Access Pathway for Digital Health Applications (DiGAs): Exploratory Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Beyond the interface: benchmarking pediatric mobile health applications for monitoring child growth using the Mobile App Rating Scale.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
13 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Commercial mobile apps for health behavior change are flourishing in the marketplace, but little evidence exists to support their use. This paper summarizes methods for evaluating the content, usability, and efficacy of commercially available health apps. Content analyses can be used to compare app features with clinical guidelines, evidence-based protocols, and behavior change techniques. Usability testing can establish how well an app functions and serves its intended purpose for a target population. Observational studies can explore the association between use and clinical and behavioral outcomes. Finally, efficacy testing can establish whether a commercial app impacts an outcome of interest via a variety of study designs, including randomized trials, multiphase optimization studies, and N-of-1 studies. Evidence in all these forms would increase adoption of commercial apps in clinical practice, inform the development of the next generation of apps, and ultimately increase the impact of commercial apps.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.