Analysis of the Information Quality of Korean Obesity-Management Smartphone Applications

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study analyzed smartphone obesity-management applications developed in Korea and the quality of the information that they provide.MethodsObesity-management smartphone applications were searched using the keywords 'obesity + management,' 'weight + management,' 'weight + loss,' 'weight + exercise,' 'weight + diet,' 'weight + calories,' and 'diet,' with a search application programming interface (provided by Apple) between September 23 and September 27, 2013. These applications were then classified according to their main purpose, type of interventions used, price, type of developer, and user ratings. The information quality of the applications was analyzed using the Silberg scale.ResultsIn total, 148 smartphone applications for obesity management were found. The main purpose of most of these applications (70.95%) was to provide information regarding weight control. The most frequently used intervention (34.62%) was to provide information on exercise management. More than half of the applications (58.78%) were free of charge. The mean of users' rating of these applications was 3.68 out of 5. The quality of information provided by these applications was evaluated as 4.55 out of 9: specifically, 1.79 out of 3 for authorship, 0.22 out of 2 for attribution, 1.29 out of 2 for disclosure, and 1.25 out of 2 for currency. Only three of the applications (2.88%) had a score on the Silberg scale greater than or equal to 7 points.ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest that the quality of information provided by smartphone applications in the healthcare domain urgently need to be evaluated to prevent users being misinformed by these applications.

The use of smartphone health apps and other mobile health (mHealth) technologies in dietetic practice: a three country study

“…mHealth technologies and health apps are accepted among patients in their chronic disease management (63) and users perceive them to be effective in promoting healthy eating and exercise (64) . However, a growing number of evaluations describe the need for a greater evidence base for diabetes (23,38,42,65) and nutrition or physical activity apps (35,41,43,45,(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74) . Therefore, to prevent patients from being misguided by false information, dietitians need to be well informed about the quality and effectiveness of apps that can be recommended to their patients.…”

Factors Affecting Acceptance of Smartphone Application for Management of Obesity

“…To this end, nursing interventions using IT that provide continuous interventions and are free from temporal and spatial limitations, such as the Internet and mobile devices, have been proven effective in terms of accessibility, equity, and cost [ 11 ]. A study that analyzed the quality of health information offered by obesity-management apps in the United States found that there were 204 iOS-based obesity-management apps in 2009 [ 12 ], while another study on the quality of health information provided by obesity-management apps in Korea found 148 iOS-based obesity-management apps in 2013 [ 13 ]. The total number of obesity-management apps is predicted to be even higher given that Android-based apps were excluded from these studies.…”

The interest of primary care patients in using health applications for mobile devices

“…It should be emphasized that this situation does not concern Polish residents only. There are various studies confirm-ing the wide possibilities of mobile phones in supporting healthcare among representatives of various nations [11][12][13]. And the number of their users is constantly growing.…”