JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The success of mobile apps in improving the lifestyle of patients with non-communicable diseases through self-management interventions is contingent upon the emerging growth in this field. While users of mobile health apps continue to grow in number, little is known about the quality of the available mobile health (mHealth) apps that provide self-management for common non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

Objective:

We aimed to investigate the availability, characteristics and quality of mHealth for common non-communicable diseases health management that include dietary aspects based on the developer’s description and their features for promoting health outcomes and self-monitoring.

Methods:

A systematic search of apps available in English on Google Play Store (Google LLC) and Apple App Store (Apple Inc) was conducted between August 7th, 2022 and September 13th, 2022. The search terms used were weight loss, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, weight management and diet.The selected mHealth apps’ titles and content were screened based on the description that was provided. An app that was not designed with self-management features was excluded. We analysed the mHealth apps category, the involvement of healthcare professionals, scientific testing, and self-monitoring features. The search terms were weight loss, obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, stroke, weight management and diet. A proven and multi-dimensional tool called Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) was used to evaluate each mHealth apps’ quality.

Results:

Overall, 42 apps were identified. About 38.1% of the apps were for managing chronic diseases, while 61.9% were for weight management. Diabetes-specific mHealth apps designed account for 4.8% of the market, 11.9% for hypertension apps and 21.4% for general non-communicable diseases (NCDs) management. Self-management features such as weight tracking, BMI calculator, diet tracking and fluid intake were seen in 85.7% of the apps. Most mHealth apps (88.1%) did not indicate whether there is involvement of health professionals in the app development. Additionally, none of the apps reported scientific evidence demonstrating their efficacy in managing health. On the MARS Scale, overall mean score was 3.2 over 5 with the range of 2.0-4.1. Functionality was the best-rated category—3.9 (SD=0.5), followed by aesthetics—3.2 (0.9), information—3.1 (0.7) and engagement—2.9 (0.6).

Conclusions:

The quality of mHealth apps for managing chronic diseases are heterogeneous with roughly half of them falling short of acceptable standard for both quality and content. The majority of apps contain scant information about scientific evidence and the developer’s history. To increase user confidence and accomplish desired health outcomes, mHealth apps should be optimized with the help of healthcare professional. Future studies on mHealth content analysis should focus on other diseases as well.