ArticleBMC medicine2018
How can clinicians, specialty societies and others evaluate and improve the quality of apps for patient use?
Article in BMC medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Which criteria are important in usability evaluation of mHealth applications: an umbrella review.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2024Pooled it
- Digital Health Technologies for Long-term Self-management of Osteoporosis: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Value in app store metadata and user reviews: A dual perspective on quality of Parkinson's and dementia apps.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Development of a health-tracking tool for the Brazilian population: a pilot study with Brazilian women.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Quality Evaluating Mobile Health Apps for Oral Hygiene Management Using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS): A Systematic Review of Smartphone App Markets.Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran · 2025Review
- Challenges and Alternatives to Evaluation Methods and Regulation Approaches for Medical Apps as Mobile Medical Devices: International and Multidisciplinary Focus Group Discussion.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Article
- Provider Adoption of mHealth in Rural Patient Care: Web-Based Survey Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
- Methodological Frameworks and Dimensions to Be Considered in Digital Health Technology Assessment: Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Greek validation of the user version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS).The Journal of international medical research · 2023Article
- Orthopaedic and trauma surgeons' prioritisation of app quality principles based on their demographic background.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2023Article
- Proposal of a New Rating Concept for Digital Health Applications in Orthopedics and Traumatology.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Insights from Review and Content Analysis of Current COVID-19 Mobile Apps and Recommendations for Future Pandemics.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Turkish Validation of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale.Turkish journal of urology · 2022Article
- Digital Health and Learning in Speech-Language Pathology, Phoniatrics, and Otolaryngology: Survey Study for Designing a Digital Learning Toolbox App.JMIR medical education · 2022Article
- Mobile Applications in Mood Disorders and Mental Health: Systematic Search in Apple App Store and Google Play Store and Review of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Persian mobile health applications for COVID-19: A use case-based study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2022Article
- [Identification of rheumatological health apps in the Apple app store applying the "semiautomatic retrospective app store analysis" method : A longitudinal observation].Zeitschrift fur Rheumatologie · 2021Article
- Mobile Health Apps That Act as Surgical Preparatory Guides: App Store Search and Quality Evaluation.JMIR perioperative medicine · 2021Article
- Analysis of Apps With a Medication List Functionality for Older Adults With Heart Failure Using the Mobile App Rating Scale and the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics Functionality Score: Evaluation Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHealth-related apps have great potential to enhance health and prevent disease globally, but their quality currently varies too much for clinicians to feel confident about recommending them to patients. The major quality concerns are dubious app content, loss of privacy associated with widespread sharing of the patient data they capture, inaccurate advice or risk estimates and the paucity of impact studies. This may explain why current evidence about app use by people with health-related conditions is scanty and inconsistent. MAIN TEXT: There are many concerns about health-related apps designed for use by patients, such as poor regulation and implicit trust in technology. However, there are several actions that various stakeholders, including users, developers, health professionals and app distributors, can take to tackle these concerns and thus improve app quality. This article focuses on the use of checklists that can be applied to apps, novel evaluation methods and suggestions for how clinical specialty organisations can develop a low-cost curated app repository with explicit risk and quality criteria.
conclusionsClinicians and professional societies must act now to ensure they are using good quality apps, support patients in choosing between available apps and improve the quality of apps under development. Funders must also invest in research to answer important questions about apps, such as how clinicians and patients decide which apps to use and which app factors are associated with effectiveness.
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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.