JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Drug referencing mobile apps are among the most frequently apps used by emergency health professionals. Currently there are no studies about the quantity and quality of apps related to emergency drugs.

Objective:

The aim of this study was to identify apps designed to assist emergency healthcare professionals in managing drugs and to analyze their contents.

Methods:

We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of apps about emergency drugs. A search was conducted in February 2021 on the iOS and Android platforms. Apps identified were downloaded and their main characteristics were evaluated by 2 independent researchers. Developer affiliation, cost, updates, user ratings and number of downloads were analyzed. We also evaluated the number of drugs described, the inclusion of bibliographic references and the presence of the following drug information: commercial presentations, usual dosage, dose adjustment for renal failure, mechanism of action, therapeutic indications, contraindications, interaction with other medicinal products, use in pregnancy and lactation, adverse reactions, method of preparation and administration, stability data/incompatibilities, identification of high-alert medications, positioning in treatment algorithms, information about medication reconciliation and cost.

Results:

We identified a total of 49 apps. Of these, 32 (65.3%) were found at both digital platforms, 11 (22.4%) were only available for Android and 6 (12.2%) for iOS. A total of 20 (40.8%) required payment (ranging from 0.59€ to 179.99€) and 11 (22.4%) were developed by non-healthcare professionals. The weighted user rating mean was 4.023 out of 5 (SD 0.71). Overall, 22 apps (44.9%) were focused on emergency drugs and 27 (55.1%) on emergency medicine. More than a half (61.7%) did not include bibliographic references or had not been updated for more than a year (59.2%). The median number of drugs was 66 (range 4 to 5000+). Most apps included information about usual dosage (87.8%) and therapeutic indications (79.2%), while information about contraindications (55.3%) and adverse reactions (51.1%) was only found in about half of apps. Dose adjustment for renal failure (31.9%), interactions (21.3%) and use in pregnancy and lactation (31.9%) were described in less than a half of apps. Furthermore, only 3 (6.4%) identified high-alert medications and 1 (2.1%) included information about medication reconciliation. Health-related developer, main topic of the app (emergency drugs or emergency medicine) and greater amount of drug information were not statistically associated with higher user ratings (P=.99, P=.09 and P=.31, respectively).

Conclusions:

We provide a comprehensive review of apps related to emergency drugs. Our findings show that information on authorship, drug characteristics and bibliographic references is frequently scarce, so we propose some recommendations to take into account when developing an app of these characteristics. Future efforts should be done to increase regulation of drug referencing apps and to carry out a more frequent and documented review of their clinical content.