ArticleCurrent addiction reports2020
Review of Popularity and Quality Standards of Opioid-Related Smartphone Apps.
Article in Current addiction reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 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
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- A phase I pilot study of a mobile education tool for supporting pregnant women with opioid use disorder.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2025Article
- What smartphone apps exist to support recovery from opioid use disorder? A content analysis of publicly available opioid-related smartphone apps.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2025Article
- A Narrative Review of the Digital Equity Gap of Apps for Cigarette Smoking Cessation for Persons Living in the Hispanosphere.Current addiction reports · 2024Article
- Evaluating a mobile app's effects on depression and anxiety in medication-treated opioid use disorder.Npj mental health research · 2024Article
- Overdose Alert and Response Technologies: State-of-the-art Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Review
- The Evolution of Telepsychiatry for Substance Use Disorders During COVID-19: a Narrative Review.Current addiction reports · 2023Review
- Potential Effects of Digital Inequality on Treatment Seeking for Opioid Use Disorder.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2023Article
- Rewarding recovery: the time is now for contingency management for opioid use disorder.Annals of medicine · 2022Article
- Acceptability and Usability of a Reward-Based Mobile App for Opioid Treatment Settings: Mixed Methods Pilot Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Article
- Using data science to improve outcomes for persons with opioid use disorder.Substance abuse · 2022Article
- Smartphone applications for intervening on addictive behaviors: efficacy is just one phase of the marathon.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewOpioid misuse, addiction, and related harm is a global crisis that affects public health and social and economic welfare. Many of the strategies being used to combat the opioid crisis could benefit from improved access and dissemination, such as that afforded by smartphone apps. The goal of this study was to characterize the purpose, audience, quality and popularity of opioid-related smartphone apps. Using web scraping, available information from 619 opioid-related apps (e.g., popularity metrics) was downloaded from Google Play, and 59 apps met criteria for review. The apps were additionally coded for quality by two raters using an 8-item screener for the American Psychiatric Association App Evaluation Model.
findingsSixty one percent of apps targeted patients, 29% providers, 8% the general community, and 2% healthcare trainees. Regarding app purpose, 49% addressed treatment, 27% prevention, and 24% overdose. Only one app met all criteria on the screener for quality, and there was no association between a total score calculated for the screener and measures of app popularity (e.g., star ratings; R SUMMARY: Opioid-related apps available for consumers addressed key stakeholders (patients, providers, community) and were consistent with strategies to address the opioid crisis (prevention, treatment, overdose). However, there was little evidence that available opioid-related apps meet basic quality standards, and no relationship was found between app quality and popularity. This review was conducted at the level of consumer decision-making (i.e., the app store), where only a handful of opioid-related apps met quality standards enough to warrant a more detailed evaluation of the app before recommendation for use. Because smartphone apps could be a critical tool to increase access to and utilization of opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery services, further development and testing is sorely needed.
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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.