Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36429365›Full record

ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2022

Insights from Review and Content Analysis of Current COVID-19 Mobile Apps and Recommendations for Future Pandemics.

Yeongju Kim, Jihye Choi, Young-A Ji, Hyekyung Woo

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Yeongju KimDepartment of Health Administration, Kongju National University, Gongju 32588, Korea.ORCID 0000-0002-9291-4576
Jihye ChoiDepartment of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7099-6101
Young-A JiCollege of Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea.ORCID 0000-0003-3202-7809
Hyekyung WooDepartment of Health Administration, Kongju National University, Gongju 32588, Korea.ORCID 0000-0001-5489-3404
Kongju National University · KRGyeongsang National University · KRThe University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A number of mobile health apps related to coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been developed, but research into app content analytics for effective surveillance and management is still in its preliminary stages. The present study aimed to identify the purpose and functions of the currently available COVID-19 apps using content analysis. The secondary aim was to propose directions for the future development of apps that aid infectious disease surveillance and control with a focus on enhancing the app content and quality. Prior to conducting an app search in the App Store and the Google Play Store, we reviewed previous studies on COVID-19 apps found in Google Scholar and PubMed to examine the main purposes of the apps. Using the five selected keywords based on the review, we searched the two app stores to retrieve eligible COVID-19 apps including those already addressed in the reviewed literature. We conducted descriptive and content analyses of the selected apps. We classified the purpose types of the COVID-19 apps into the following five categories: Information provision, tracking, monitoring, mental health management, and engagement. We identified 890 apps from the review articles and the app stores: 47 apps met the selection criteria and were included in the content analysis. Among the selected apps, iOS apps outnumbered Android apps, 27 apps were government-developed, and most of the apps were created in the United States. The most common function for the iOS apps (63.6%) and Android apps (62.5%) was to provide COVID-19-related knowledge. The most common function among the tracking apps was to notify users of contact with infected people by the iOS apps (40.9%) and Android apps (37.5%). About 29.5% of the iOS apps and 25.0% of the Android apps were used to record symptoms and self-diagnose. Significantly fewer apps targeted mental health management and engagement. Six iOS apps (6/44, 13.6%) and four Android apps (4/24, 16.7%) provided behavioral guidelines about the pandemic. Two iOS apps (2/44, 4.5%) and two Android apps (2/24, 8.3%) featured communication functions. The present content analysis revealed that most of the apps provided unilateral information and contact tracing or location tracking. Several apps malfunctioned. Future research and development of COVID-19 apps or apps for other emerging infectious diseases should address the quality and functional improvements, which should begin with continuous monitoring and actions to mitigate any technical errors.

Indexed as

Communicable DiseasesCOVID-19Mobile ApplicationsTelemedicineHumansPandemicscontact tracingcoronacoronavirusCOVID-19outbreak detection

Identifiers

PMID36429365
PMCPMC9690054
OpenAlexW4308523016

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.