Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Jan 18, 2021
Date Accepted: May 27, 2021
Evaluating Chinese mobile health apps for ankylosing spondylitis management: systematic app search
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mobile health(mHealth) applications(apps) is a novel method to assist individuals with chronic conditions to understand, monitor, and manage their condition. There are some apps targeting at patients with ankylosing spondylitis(AS), but the function and quality of these apps are not systematically examined.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to identify publicly available apps for patients with AS, and evaluate and summarize their features.
Methods:
We systematically searched potential apps relevant to AS patients on the Apple and Huawei App Store. Apps that met inclusion criteria were included in analysis. We used a list of quality measures retrieved from international guidelines and recommendations to assess the quality of each app.
Results:
Of the 354 apps screened, 5 mHealth apps for patients with AS was included and analyzed. All apps were free for users and most apps (4/5, 80%) had a privacy policy. All apps provided educational information about AS. Around half of the apps had the functions of basic information record (3/5, 60%), communication (2/5, 40%), symptom tracking (2/5, 40%), information sharing (3/5, 60%). Of the 5 apps, only one app provided comprehensive functions that enabled patients manage their disease.
Conclusions:
Most apps lacked of comprehensive functions for patients with AS to manage their disease. This review only assessed and summarized the features of the apps, but didn’t evaluate the efficacy of the included apps. Future studies should evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of these apps in clinical trails. Meanwhile, rheumatologists, healthcare providers, app developers, patients should collaborate to develop high-quality apps considering patients’ need and health professionals’ perspectives.
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