Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jan 7, 2021
Date Accepted: Apr 29, 2021
User Engagement and Usability of Suicide Prevention Apps: Systematic Search in App Stores and Content Analysis
ABSTRACT
Background:
People with suicidal thoughts are more inclined to seek technology-delivered interventions than in-person forms of treatment, making mobile apps for suicide prevention an ideal platform for treatment delivery.
Objective:
This review examines apps designed for suicide prevention, with a specific focus on user engagement.
Methods:
All apps referring to suicidal thoughts and behaviors were identified in Google Play and iOS app stores and were systematically reviewed for app content and quality. The Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) was used to evaluate app usability and engagement.
Results:
A total of 66 apps were identified. Most (64.0%) were designed specifically for people with suicidal ideation, whereas 89.3% had at least one best practice feature for suicide risk reduction and 83.3% scored in the “acceptable” range according to the MARS. The total MARS score was not associated with the user app rating or the number of features.
Conclusions:
Only free apps were systematically evaluated, potentially limiting the breadth of this review. It is unclear how frequently these apps are used, whether they are reaching target audiences, or most importantly, if they are effective at reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
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.