ArticleNPJ digital medicine2019
By the numbers: ratings and utilization of behavioral health mobile applications.
Article in NPJ digital medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 3 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
91 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- [Efficacy of internet-based interventions for depression available in Germany-A systematic review and meta-analysis].Der Nervenarzt · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Characteristics of Mobile Health Platforms for Depression and Anxiety: Content Analysis Through a Systematic Review of the Literature and Systematic Search of Two App Stores.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Sociodemographic and clinical predictors of digital mental health intervention engagement among treatment-seeking psychiatric outpatients.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Trial
- Smartphone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Customized Sound Therapy for Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology · 2025Trial
- Comparing Message-Based Psychotherapy to Once-Weekly, Video-Based Psychotherapy for Moderate Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Effectiveness of Mental Health Apps for Distress During COVID-19 in US Unemployed and Essential Workers: Remote Pragmatic Randomized Clinical Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Trial
- An Initial Test of the Efficacy of a Digital Health Intervention for Bariatric Surgery Candidates.Obesity surgery · 2022Trial
- Conditions for the Successful Integration of an eHealth Tool "StopBlues" Into Community-Based Interventions in France: Results From a Multiple Correspondence Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Optimizing Usability of Digital Health Interventions for Nondigitally Native Adults: A Framework-Based Approach to Develop Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions (JITAIs) and Other Adaptations.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Design Preferences for Mental Health Apps Among Nondigitally Native Adults With Chronic Pain: Qualitative Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Antecedents and consequences of different indicators of engagement with a digital intervention for tobacco cessation.NPJ digital medicine · 2026Article
- Dynamic bidirectional relationships between perceived stress and emotion regulation in emergency medical service clinicians.Npj mental health research · 2026Article
- Patient and Care Team Perspectives of Barriers to and Facilitators for the Implementation of a Digital Health Program for Depression in Primary Care: Qualitative Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- How Engagement Changes Over Time in a Digital Eating Disorder App: Observational Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Observational
- Evaluating User Engagement With a Real-Time, Text-Based Digital Mental Health Support App: Cross-Sectional, Retrospective Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Developing a standardized framework for evaluating health apps using natural language processing.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Adherence to a digital therapeutic mediates the relationship between momentary self-regulation and health risk behaviors.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Review
- Natural language processing in mixed-methods evaluation of a digital sleep-alcohol intervention for young adults.NPJ digital medicine · 2024Article
31 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
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Although >10,000 behavioral health applications ("apps") are currently available on the Apple and Google Play marketplaces, they have been minimally evaluated or regulated and little is known about "real world" usage patterns. This investigation combined data from online behavioral health app rating frameworks and a mobile health market research firm to identify the most downloaded apps as well as determine rating and ranking concordance between frameworks. Findings demonstrated that the most commonly downloaded apps focus on relaxation, mindfulness, and meditation skills and that they often have notably discordant reviews across rating frameworks. Our results suggest that there is a growing need for: (1) standardized behavioral health app quality and effectiveness measures, (2) up-to-date behavioral health app guidance for clinicians and consumers, and (3) evidence-based apps that incorporate revealed consumer preferences.
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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.