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Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Date Submitted: Jun 9, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 9, 2021 - Aug 4, 2021
Date Accepted: Dec 23, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

The Characteristics and Functionalities of Mobile Apps Aimed at Patients Diagnosed With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Systematic App Search

Romero-Jimenez R, Escudero-Vilaplana V, Chamorro-De-Vega E, Ais A, Lobato-Matilla E, Herranz A, Sanjurjo M

The Characteristics and Functionalities of Mobile Apps Aimed at Patients Diagnosed With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Systematic App Search

J Med Internet Res 2022;24(3):e31016

DOI: 10.2196/31016

PMID: 35254286

PMCID: 8933793

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.

Characteristics and functionalities of mobile apps aimed at patients diagnosed with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: systematic app search

  • Rosa Romero-Jimenez; 
  • Vicente Escudero-Vilaplana; 
  • Esther Chamorro-De-Vega; 
  • Arantza Ais; 
  • Elena Lobato-Matilla; 
  • Ana Herranz; 
  • Maria Sanjurjo

ABSTRACT

Background:

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are systemic conditions associated with a high social and health impact. New treatments have changed the prognosis of IMIDs and have increased patient autonomy in disease management. Mobile apps have enormous potential to improve health outcomes in IMID patients. While a large number of IMID apps are available, the app market is not regulated, and functionality and reliability remain uncertain.

Objective:

Our objectives were to review available apps for IMID patients and/or caregivers and to identify and describe the main characteristics and functionalities of these apps.

Methods:

We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of all apps for IMID patients. Between April 5 and 14, 2021, we conducted a search of the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android) platforms. The search terms used were “ankylosing spondylitis”, “Crohn's disease”, “IBD”, “inflammatory bowel disease”, “immune-mediated inflammatory diseases”, “immune-mediated inflammatory disorders”, “psoriasis”, “psoriatic arthritis”, “rheumatoid arthritis”, and “ulcerative colitis”. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) content related to IMIDs, 2) English or Spanish language, 3) user population consisting of patients and healthcare consumers, including family and caregivers. The variables analyzed were as follows: app name, type of IMID, platform (Android or iOS), country of origin, language, category of the app, cost, date of the last update, size, downloads, author affiliation, and functionalities.

Results:

We identified 713 apps in the initial search, and 243 apps met the criteria and were analyzed. Of these, 37.0% (90/243) were on Android, 27.2% (66/243) on iOS, and 35.8% (87/243) on both platforms. The most frequent categories were health and well-being/fitness apps (188/243 [48.5%]) and medicine (82/243 [37.9%]). A total of 211 apps (82.3%) were free. The mean time between the date of the analysis and the date of the most recent update was 18.5 months (SD = 19.3). Healthcare professionals were involved in the development of 100 apps (41.1%). We found differences between Android and iOS in the time since the last update (16.2 [SD=14.7] months vs. 30.3 [SD=25.7] months) and in free apps (85.6% vs. 75.8%; respectively). The functionalities were as follows: general information about lifestyles, nutrition, or exercises (135/243 apps [55.6%]); specific information about the disease or treatment (102/243 apps [42.0%]); recording of symptoms or adverse events (51/243 apps [21.0%]); agenda/calendar (44/243 apps [18.1%]); reminder medication (41/243 apps [16.9%]); and recording of patient-reported outcomes (41/243 apps [16.9%]). A total of 147 apps (60.5%) had more than one functionality.

Conclusions:

IMID-related apps are heterogeneous in terms of functionality and reliability. Apps may be a useful complement to IMID care, especially in patient education (their most frequent functionality). However, more than half of the IMID apps had not been developed by healthcare professionals or updated in the last year. Doubts over author affiliations and the lack of updates lead to significant uncertainties concerning their quality and safety.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Romero-Jimenez R, Escudero-Vilaplana V, Chamorro-De-Vega E, Ais A, Lobato-Matilla E, Herranz A, Sanjurjo M

The Characteristics and Functionalities of Mobile Apps Aimed at Patients Diagnosed With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases: Systematic App Search

J Med Internet Res 2022;24(3):e31016

DOI: 10.2196/31016

PMID: 35254286

PMCID: 8933793

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