JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

mHealth apps for screening and diagnosis of mental disorders have emerged in recent years on various levels (patients, practitioners, public health system). However, the diagnostic quality of these apps has not been (sufficiently) tested so far.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to test how well a medical app can identify a broad spectrum of mental disorders and whether the diagnostic accuracy depends on expert knowledge.

Methods:

Two psychotherapists, two psychology students, and two laypersons each read 20 case vignettes with a broad spectrum of mental disorders. They used a medical diagnostic app (Ada Your Health Guide) to get a diagnosis by entering the symptoms. Inter-rater reliabilities were computed between the diagnoses of the case vignettes and the results of the app for each user group.

Results:

When psychotherapists applied the app, there was a good diagnostic agreement (κ=0.78) regarding mental disorders in adulthood. The diagnostic agreement was moderate (κ=0.55/0.60) for students and laypersons. For mental disorders in childhood and adolescence, a moderate diagnostic quality was found when psychotherapists (κ=0.53) and students (κ=0.41) used the app, while the quality was low for laypersons (κ=0.29). On average, the app required 34 questions to be answered and 7 minutes to complete.

Conclusions:

The medical app investigated here can represent an efficient diagnostic screening or help function for mental disorders in adulthood and has the potential to support especially diagnosticians in their work in various ways. The results of this pilot study provide a first indication that the diagnostic accuracy is user-dependent and that improvements in the app are needed for mental disorders in childhood and adolescence.