Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jun 10, 2019
Date Accepted: Jun 2, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The ethics of depression apps: A review and content analysis of app listings in the depression app marketplace
ABSTRACT
Background:
There is great promise in the use of mental health apps for the treatment of depression. Yet, research has highlighted concerns with publicly available apps for depression including issues with transparency, data privacy, and research evidence. These shortcomings present potential ethical issues which warrant further exploration.
Objective:
The present research builds on previous analyses and reviews to explore potential ethical issues of publicly available apps for depression.
Methods:
We conducted an in-depth review and content analysis of all apps for depression within the two main apps stores (Google Play store and Apple iTunes). App store listings were reviewed and analysed for ethical issues and concepts, including reported use of evidence-informed treatment approaches and strategies.
Results:
A total of 353 unique apps for depression were included in the review. Analysis of app store listings uncovered ethical issues in the areas of: validity, privacy, risks and safety, effectiveness, access to care, and responsibility. There was an insufficiency of information provided to users to allow them to make informed decisions prior to download and use of the apps, with app developers and app stores called upon to take small steps to improving the marketing of publicly available mental health apps.
Conclusions:
Several ethical issues were evident throughout the app store listings of apps for depression highlighting challenges for users to make informed treatment decisions. Recommendations for improved ethical practices are provided.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.