SynthesisJournal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA2021
Sticky apps, not sticky hands: A systematic review and content synthesis of hand hygiene mobile apps.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- The role of extended reality technologies in hygiene education and training: a systematic review of applications, benefits, and challenges.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of menopause apps with an emphasis on osteoporosis.BMC women's health · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A scoping review of the reporting quality of reviews of commercially and publicly available mobile health apps.JAMIA open · 2025Review
- Evaluating barriers to reaching women with public health information in remote communities in Mali.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Mobile Applications for Learning Hand Hygiene: A Comparative Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Article
- Virtual reality and augmented reality smartphone applications for upskilling care home workers in hand hygiene: a realist multi-site feasibility, usability, acceptability, and efficacy study.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2023Article
- Nurses' Roles in mHealth App Development: Scoping Review.JMIR nursing · 2023Article
- Using a Proximity-Detection Technology to Nudge for Physical Distancing in a Swedish Workplace During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Case Study.JMIR formative research · 2022Article
- Is virtual reality suitable for hand hygiene training in health care workers? Evaluating an application for acceptability and effectiveness.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2022Article
- Patient-facing genetic and genomic mobile apps in the UK: a systematic review of content, functionality, and quality.Journal of community genetics · 2022Review
- How, for Whom, and in Which Contexts or Conditions Augmented and Virtual Reality Training Works in Upskilling Health Care Workers: Realist Synthesis.JMIR serious games · 2022Review
- Article
- Development and Usability Evaluation of a Mhealth Application for Health-Care Associated Infections among Health-Care Providers in Malaysia.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciencesArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThe study sought to identify smartphone apps that support hand hygiene practice and to assess their content, technical and functional features, and quality. A secondary objective was to make design and research recommendations for future apps. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe searched the UK Google Play and Apple App stores for hand hygiene smartphone apps aimed at adults. Information regarding content, technical and functional features was extracted and summarized. Two raters evaluated each app, using the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics functionality score and the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS).
resultsA total of 668 apps were identified, with 90 meeting the inclusion criteria. Most (96%) were free to download. The majority (78%) intended to educate or inform or remind users to hand wash (69%), using behavior change techniques such as personalization and prompting practice. Only 20% and 4% named a best practice guideline or had expert involvement in development, respectively. Innovative means of engagement were used in 42% (eg, virtual or augmented reality or geolocation-based reminders). Apps included an average of 2.4 out of 10 of the IMS functionality criteria (range, 0-8). The mean MARS score was 3.2 ± 0.5 out of 5, and 68% had a minimum acceptability score of 3. Two had been tested or trialed.
conclusionsAlthough many hand hygiene apps exist, few provide content on best practice. Many did not meet the minimum acceptability criterion for quality or were formally trialed or tested. Research should assess the feasibility and effectiveness of hand hygiene apps (especially within healthcare settings), including when and how they "work." We recommend that future apps to support hand hygiene practice are developed with infection prevention and control experts and align with best practice. Robust research is needed to determine which innovative methods of engagement create "sticky" apps.
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.