Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Sep 14, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 22, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Mar 5, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Health Apps for Combating COVID19: Descriptive Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
Mobile phone applications (apps) have been leveraged in number to combat the spread of COVID19.
Objective:
Objective:
This review aimed to identify, describe, and categorise COVID19 related apps that are currently available for personal consumers at apps stores.
Methods:
Methods:
An apps review was conducted using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) extension for scoping review. Apple Store and Google Play were searched for the period between 20 April and 11 September 2020. Apps descriptions were extracted from the apps’ web-pages and thematically analysed to identify their key technical features and the purposes that these apps can serve. Generated codes were summarised and descriptive statistics were used to describe the apps’ characteristics.
Results:
Results:
Of 299 apps were initially retrieved, 109 met our inclusion criteria. A total of (91.74%, 100/109) apps were from Apple Store, and (70.06%, 77/109) developed by national health organisations or governments. The thematic analysis led to extracting 251 excerpts that were grouped into 29 codes or technical features, and 5 overarching dimensions or purposes of apps which were: Tracking personal health (31.03%, 9/29); Raising awareness (27.5%, 8/29); Monitoring health by healthcare professionals (20.68%, 6/29); Managing exposure to COVID19 (17.24%, 5/29); and Conducting research studies (03.45%, 1/29).
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
The majority of apps were developed by national health organisations or governments and dedicated for both promoting the individuals’ health self-care and raising awareness about coronavirus. We believe that this finding will provide valuable insights for the healthcare providers as well as apps developers into reshaping their apps design and health services to expand the consumers’ capabilities to be educated about their health and able to take care of their own selves during pandemics.
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Copyright
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