A recommended guideline for the development of mHealth Apps

Chatzipavlou, Ioannis A.; Christoforidou, Sofia A.; Vlachopoulou, Maro

doi:10.21037/mhealth.2016.05.01

Cited by 45 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This will, in turn, lower costs and increase availability. Moreover, the intervention was developed by a multidisciplinary team, including neurologists with headache expertise, a neurophysiologist, and software engineers based on the guidelines for developing mHealth apps and guidelines for behavioral treatment trials . It used sensors that have previously been validated as appropriate for biofeedback and we involved the target group throughout the whole development process.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofeedback Treatment App for Pediatric Migraine: Development and Usability Study

et al. 2020

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Objective.-The objective of this study was to develop and investigate the usability of a biofeedback treatment smartphone app for adolescent migraine sufferers.Background.-Biofeedback is effective in treating pediatric migraine. However, biofeedback is not widely used due to the necessity of a trained therapist and specialized equipment. Emerging digital technology, including smartphones and wearables, enables new ways of administering biofeedback.Methods.-In a prospective open-label development and usability study, 10 adolescent migraine sufferers used a newly developed biofeedback app with wearable sensors that measured their muscle tension, finger temperature, and heart rate. Three iterative rounds of usability testing, including a 2-week home testing period, were completed. A biofeedback algorithm, combining and optimizing the 3 physiological modalities, and several algorithms for sham-treatment were created. Usability was evaluated statistically and summarized thematically.Results.-Five of ten participants completed all 3 rounds of usability testing. A total of 72 biofeedback sessions were completed. Usability scoring was consistently high, with median scores ranging from 3.5 to 4.5 on a 5-point scale. The biofeedback optimization algorithm correlated excellently to the raw physiological measurements (r = 0.85, P < .001). The intervention was safe and tolerable.Conclusion.-We developed an app for young migraine sufferers to receive therapist-independent biofeedback. The app underwent a rigorous development process as well as usability and feasibility testing. It is now ready for clinical trials.This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biofeedback Treatment App for Pediatric Migraine: Development and Usability Study

et al. 2020

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“…It has also been suggested that apps utilize expertise from health professionals for monitoring and feedback as well as provide the user with a more personalized experience to increase adherence to health behaviors (13). In fact, a review of health apps suggested a lack of trustworthiness of apps could be ameliorated by having a behavior change expert aid in app development (19). The apps in the present study have several of these attributes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

The fitness of apps: a theory-based examination of mobile fitness app usage over 5 months

Herrmann

Kim

2017

mHealth

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Background: There are thousands of fitness-related smartphone applications ("apps") available for free and purchase, but there is uncertainty if these apps help individuals achieve and maintain personal fitness.Technology usage attrition is also a concern among research studies on health technologies.Methods: Usage of three fitness apps was examined over 5 months to assess adherence and effectiveness.Initially, 64 participants downloaded three free apps available on Android and iOS and 47 remained in the study until posttest. With a one group pre-posttest design and checkpoints at months 1, 3, and 5, exercise and exercise with fitness apps were examined in the framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) using a validated survey. Apps were selected based on their function from the Functional Triad. Perceived fitness was also measured. T-tests, sign tests, Fisher's exact tests, and linear and logistic regression were used to compare pre to posttests and users to non-users of the apps.Results: Forty-seven participants completed both pre and posttests. Individual item scores indicated no significant change pre to posttest except for decreases observed in usefulness of using apps for exercise (attitude) (−0.78, P<0.01), peer influence on exercise (subjective norm) (−0.51, P<0.05), peer influence on exercise with apps (subjective norm) (−1.02, P<0.01), perceived difficulties in exercising with apps (perceived behavioral control) (−1.29, P<0.001), and the expected frequency of exercise with apps over the next 2 weeks (behavioral intention) (P<0.0001 in a sign test). Subscale total scores indicated significant decreases in subjective norm regarding exercise (−0.72, P<0.05), subjective norm regarding exercise with apps (−1.72, P<0.01), and perceived behavioral control over exercising with apps (−2.56, P<0.01) between pre and posttest.When comparing app users (n=32) to non-users (n=15), there was only a significant difference in subscale total scores at posttest for attitude toward exercising using apps, which was significantly more favorable among users than non-users (32.3 vs. 27.6, P<0.05). Fitness perception did not change over 5 months regarding cardiovascular fitness, strength, endurance, flexibility, or body composition. Technology usage attrition was desirable at 31.9%.Conclusions: App usage and effectiveness appears to have a connection to usefulness (attitude) and to perceived difficulties of exercising using apps (perceived behavioral control). Exercise and exercise using apps are not influenced by peer influence (subjective norm). Intention to exercise using these particular apps decreased (behavioral intention). Those who utilized the apps were more likely to have a positive attitude about the apps. Usefulness and perceived difficulties in particular should be considered with future app development.App usefulness and ease of use may be facilitated by using health behavior theories to guide development.

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“…Prior to conducting the analysis we chose an IS design lens that both encompasses identifying the range of human user roles, and also the design issues and methods used for developing and evaluating M-health artefacts: areas lacking in the previous M-health studies reviewed. This responds to the more recent calls for design collaboration and IS focus in M-health app development that are now becoming evident [9,35].…”

Section: Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 95%

Extending the framework for mobile health information systems Research: A content analysis

Miah

Gammack

Hasan³

2017

Information Systems

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Whilst researchers and professionals recognize that mobile health (m-health) systems offer unprecedented opportunities, most existing work has comprised individual project-based developments in specialised areas. Existing review articles generally utilise medical literature and categories: none investigates m-health from an information systems (IS) design point of view. Identifying application areas, design issues and IS research techniques will demonstrate models, issues, approaches and gaps to inform future research. A comprehensive analysis of the literature from this viewpoint is thus valuable, both for theoretical progression and for guiding real-world innovative system developments. Drawing from key IS and healthcare multidisciplinary journals we analyse recent (2010-2016) articles concerning m-health application developments and their associated design or development issues, with particular focus on the use of contemporary research methods. Our analysis suggests that m-health is an emerging field to which, although underused, contemporary approaches such as design science research are particularly appropriate. We identify eight application categories, eleven design issues (security, privacy, literacy, accessibility, acceptability, reliability, usability, confidentiality, integrity, knowledge sharing and flexibility) as well as the stakeholders and development techniques involved. This goes beyond previous frameworks, and theoretically integrates the central role of IS design within the sub-field.

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A recommended guideline for the development of mHealth Apps

Cited by 45 publications

References 14 publications

Biofeedback Treatment App for Pediatric Migraine: Development and Usability Study

Biofeedback Treatment App for Pediatric Migraine: Development and Usability Study

The fitness of apps: a theory-based examination of mobile fitness app usage over 5 months

Extending the framework for mobile health information systems Research: A content analysis

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