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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth

Date Submitted: Jun 26, 2023
Date Accepted: Nov 3, 2023

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

Dissemination Strategies for mHealth Apps: Systematic Review

Moungui HC, Nana-Djeunga HC, Anyiang CF, Cano M, Ruiz-Postigo JA, Carrion C

Dissemination Strategies for mHealth Apps: Systematic Review

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2024;12:e50293

DOI: 10.2196/50293

PMID: 38180796

PMCID: 10799285

Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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

Dissemination of Mobile Health Applications: A Systematic Review

  • Henri Claude Moungui; 
  • Hugues Clotaire Nana-Djeunga; 
  • Che Frankline Anyiang; 
  • Mireia Cano; 
  • Jose Antonio Ruiz-Postigo; 
  • Carme Carrion

ABSTRACT

Background:

Among the millions of mobile applications (“apps”) in existence, thousands fall under the category of mobile health (mHealth). While the utility of mHealth apps has been demonstrated for disease diagnosis, treatment data management, and health promotion strategies, to be effective they must reach and be used by their target audience. An appropriate marketing strategy can ensure apps reach potential users and potentially convert these to final users. Such a strategy requires definitions of target end users, communication channels, and advertising content, as well as a timeline for effectively reaching and motivating end users to adopt and maintain engagement with the mHealth app.

Objective:

To identify strategies and elements that ensure end users adopt and remain engaged with mHealth apps.

Methods:

A systematic search of PUBMED, PsycInfo, Scopus and CINAHL databases was conducted for suitable studies published between January 2018 and September 2022. Two researchers independently screened studies for inclusion, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. The main outcome was dissemination strategies for mHealth apps.

Results:

From a total of 645 papers retrieved from the selected databases, only 10 met the inclusion criteria. The marketing strategies used in these studies to inform potential users of the existence of mHealth apps and motivate download included both paid and unpaid strategies and used various channels, including social media, emails, tabloids, and face-to-face communication. Advertising messages included instructions on where and how to download and install apps. In most studies, instructions were oriented towards how to use the apps and maintaining engagement with a health intervention. The most frequently used paid marketing platforms were Google Universal App Campaigns and Facebook Ads Manager. Advertising performance was influenced by many factors, including but not limited to ad content. Animated graphics generated the greatest number of clicks when compared to other image types. The metrics used to assess marketing strategy effectiveness were number of downloads, nonusage rate, dropout rate, adherence rate, duration of app usage and app usability over days, weeks, or months. Additional indicators such as cost-per-click, cost-per-install, and click-through rate were mainly used to assess the cost-effectiveness of paid marketing campaigns.

Conclusions:

mHealth apps can be disseminated via paid and unpaid marketing strategies using various communication channels. Further research could provide guidance on a framework for disseminating and encouraging routine use of mHealth apps. Clinical Trial: The protocol for this systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42022352369).


 Citation

Please cite as:

Moungui HC, Nana-Djeunga HC, Anyiang CF, Cano M, Ruiz-Postigo JA, Carrion C

Dissemination Strategies for mHealth Apps: Systematic Review

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2024;12:e50293

DOI: 10.2196/50293

PMID: 38180796

PMCID: 10799285

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