ArticleBJPsych open2020
Beyond clicks and downloads: a call for a more comprehensive approach to measuring mobile-health app engagement.
Article in BJPsych open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analyzing the Impact of Mobile App Engagement on Mental Health Outcomes: Secondary Analysis of the Unwinding Anxiety Program.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Trial
- Engagement with a digital therapeutic for smoking cessation designed for persons with psychiatric illness fully mediates smoking outcomes in a pilot randomized controlled trial.Translational behavioral medicine · 2021Trial
- Perspectives of Clinical Researchers on Engagement With Digital Mental Health Interventions: Qualitative Interview Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- User engagement in the tuberculosis treatment support tools intervention and its impact on treatment outcomes: A secondary analysis of a pragmatic trial.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Posttraumatic Symptoms as Predictors of Engagement With a Mobile App for Coping After Military Sexual Trauma: Public Usage Data Analysis Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Observational
- Empowering Quality of Life Monitoring and Self-Management in Bipolar Disorder: Pilot Evaluation of the PolarUs App.Bipolar disorders · 2026Article
- Exploring Components and Feasibility of Health Coaching Interventions for Self-Management of Type 2 Diabetes: Protocol for a Systematic Review.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Article
- What influences engagement with a bipolar disorder self-management app? A qualitative investigation of use of the PolarUs app.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Application of the Supportive Accountability Model in Digital Health Interventions: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Article
- Assessing the Effectiveness of an mHealth Intervention to Support Men Who Have Sex With Men Engaging in Chemsex (Budd): Single-Case and Pre-Post Experimental Design Study.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- User Engagement in an Online Digital Health Intervention to Promote Problem Solving.Interacting with computers · 2024Article
- Use and Engagement With Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques Used Within an App to Support Worry Management: Content Analysis of Log Data.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Article
- Identifying Design Opportunities for Adaptive mHealth Interventions That Target General Well-Being: Interview Study With Informal Care Partners.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Article
- The engagement problem: A review of engagement with digital mental health interventions and recommendations for a path forward.Current treatment options in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Human-to-Computer Interactivity Features Incorporated Into Behavioral Health mHealth Apps: Systematic Search.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Understanding the Role of Support in Digital Mental Health Programs With Older Adults: Users' Perspective and Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Supporting Self-management and Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder With the PolarUs App (Alpha): Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Downloading a mobile health (m-health) app on your smartphone does not mean you will ever use it. Telling another person about an app does not mean you like it. Using an online intervention does not mean it has had an impact on your well-being. Yet we consistently rely on downloads, clicks, 'likes' and other usage and popularity metrics to measure m-health app engagement. Doing so misses the complexity of how people perceive and use m-health apps in everyday life to manage mental health conditions. This article questions commonly used behavioural metrics of engagement in mental health research and care, and proposes a more comprehensive approach to measuring in-app engagement.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.