Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jan 31, 2024
Date Accepted: Jan 27, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Older adults’ depression self-care via mobile apps: a systematic assessment of app characteristics and applicability
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mobile applications or apps can connect users and are also effective for depression management in the general population. However, older adults have specific needs in terms of the content of depression self-care interventions and their accessibility. It remains unknown whether existing apps for depression self-care are applicable to older adults.
Objective:
We aimed to systematically assess the applicability interactive depression self-care apps to older adults.
Methods:
Using an established app assessment methodology, we searched for Android and iOS apps in English and Chinese in 42Matters, Chinese Android app stores, and the first ten pages of Google and Baidu. Two reviewers independently examined the apps’ eligibility using predefined criteria. Interactive mental health apps that mentioned depression were included. The assessment rubric was developed by reviewing existing systematic reviews, academic books, clinical guidelines and widely used checklists on mobile interventions, mental health interventions, and older adults’ depression management. We extracted the basic characteristics of the apps, the contents specifically related to older adults, and assessed the applicability of technical features, including accessibility, to older adults.
Results:
We identified 27 apps, 23 English and 4 apps (5 iOS-only apps, 3 Android-only apps and 19 apps on both platforms). None specifically targeted older adults with depression. Most apps incorporated cognitive behaviour therapy, mood monitoring or journaling. All but two apps had a privacy and confidentiality policy. Sixteen apps covered depression risk factors in older adults, and four apps delivered information on depression epidemiology in older adults via a chatbot. Furthermore, 19 apps mentioned topics relevant to older adults, such as pain management, grief, loneliness, and social isolation. One-third of the depression self-care apps were supported by an online community. Common accessibility issues included the lack of adaptations for users with visual or hearing impairments, and incompatibility with larger font sizes in the phone settings.
Conclusions:
Available mobile apps have limited applicability to older adults based on their clinical and technical features. Existing depression apps may consider incorporating content more relevant to older adults, including online communities, and improving accessibility to adapt to potential health impairments in older adults.
Citation
