Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Dec 20, 2021
Date Accepted: Sep 2, 2022
Smartphone Apps for Patients with Hematologic Malignancies: a systematic search and evaluation cont
ABSTRACT
Background:
The number of health applications available to patients has increased exponentially. The information obtained through mobile phone apps can significantly impact patients' health. Currently, there is no analysis or evaluation of apps aiming at patients with haematological malignancies.
Objective:
The objective of our study was to identify and analyse the quality of apps aimed at patients diagnosed with haematological malignancies.
Methods:
We conducted an observational, cross-sectional descriptive study of apps aimed at patients diagnosed with haematological malignancies or their caregivers. In November 2021, a systematic search was performed in 'Google Play Store' and 'App Store' with the key terms’ "haematology", "blood cancer", "leukaemia", "lymphoma", and "Myeloma". Apps in English and Spanish language were included. The apps identified were downloaded and analysed. Information about the app's general characteristics was collected. The Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) was employed to assess quality. The mean score of the apps was compared by Student's t-test.
Results:
A total of 18 apps were identified, eight available on Android, six on iOS and six on both platforms. All apps were free, and 50% (9) were updated in 2021. The apps were aimed at leukaemia 61.1% (11), lymphoma 16.7% (3), myeloma 11.1% (2) and both leukaemia and lymphoma 11.1% (2) patients. The primary purpose of the apps was general information 88.9% (16), monitoring of symptoms and clinical parameters 61.1% (11), treatment registration 44.4% (8), contact with healthcare professionals 33.3% (6) and with other patients 38.9% (7). Healthcare professionals intervene in 50% of apps for development. The mean MARS score for the overall quality of the apps was 3.1 (SD 0.95). Statistically significant differences in the MARS score were found between operating systems (+0.97, P =.003) in favour of the iOS apps. The involvement of health professionals in the development of the apps did not have a statistically significant impact in the MARS scores.
Conclusions:
The number of Apps aimed at patients with haematological malignancies, or their caregivers was low, with acceptable quality and diverse purposes and scopes. Most apps were developed by commercial organisations. The participation of healthcare professionals in the design or development of these apps was low and was not associated with increased quality. We found iOS apps being statistically significantly superior to Android apps.
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