Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Dec 13, 2019
Date Accepted: Feb 26, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Apr 29, 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Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Mobile applications for mental health issues: A meta-review
ABSTRACT
Mental health apps have great potential to help people needing support to cope with distress or specific symptoms. There is in fact an exponential increase of mental health Apps available online, with less than 5% actually being studied. Nonetheless, there is a need to assess the quality of the evidence available and to summarize the results obtained so far.
Methods:
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses were searched, specifically for mobile apps in link with mental health issues or symptoms and rated using the GRADE system.
Results:
The final seven meta-analyses were carefully reviewed and rated. Although some meta-analyses looked at any mental health issue and analyzed the data together, these studies were of poorer quality and did not offer strong empirical support for the apps. Those focusing specifically on anxiety symptoms, or on depressive symptoms, were of moderate to high quality and generally had small to medium effect sizes. Similarly, the effects of apps on stress and quality of life tended to offer small-medium effects and were of moderate to high quality. Studies looking at apps focusing on specific anxiety disorders or on suicidal ideation and self-harm were of poorer empirical quality. The studies who included follow-ups mostly found sustained impact of the app at 11 weeks follow-up. Conclusion: This meta-review revealed that apps for anxiety and depression hold great promise with clear clinical advantages, either as stand-alone self-management or as adjunctive treatments. More meta-analyses, as well as more quality studies, are needed in order to recommend apps for other mental health issues or for specific populations.
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