Development and Validation of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS)

Stoyanov, Stoyan; Hides, Leanne; Kavanagh, David J.; Wilson, Hollie

doi:10.2196/mhealth.5849

Cited by 664 publications

(552 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(16 reference statements)

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“…For example the user Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS; [18]) assesses factors such as an app's customisation, interactivity, ease of use, and the quality and credibility of information. Although the two concepts of quality and alliance are no doubt related (e.g.…”

Section: Revisedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Therapeutic Alliance in the Context of mHealth Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Development of the Mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM) Questionnaire (Preprint)

Berry¹,

Salter²,

Morris³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Section: Revisedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Therapeutic Alliance in the Context of mHealth Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Development of the Mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM) Questionnaire (Preprint)

Berry¹,

Salter²,

Morris³

et al. 2017

Preprint

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“…Nevertheless, some limitations need to be considered. provided a validated quality check for our intervention [31,32]. However, at the time of the start of the study, these tools were not available nor tested yet.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Smartphone-Based Physical Activity Telecoaching in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Mixed-Methods Study on Patient Experiences and Lessons for Implementation (Preprint)

Loeckx¹,

Rabinovich²,

Demeyer³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Telecoaching approaches can enhance physical activity (PA) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, their effectiveness is likely to be influenced by intervention-specific characteristics. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the acceptability, actual usage, and feasibility of a complex PA telecoaching intervention from both patient and coach perspectives and link these to the effectiveness of the intervention. METHODS We conducted a mixed-methods study based on the completers of the intervention group (N=159) included in an (effective) 12-week PA telecoaching intervention. This semiautomated telecoaching intervention consisted of a step counter and a smartphone app. Data from a project-tailored questionnaire (quantitative data) were combined with data from patient interviews and a coach focus group (qualitative data) to investigate patient and coach acceptability, actual usage, and feasibility of the intervention. The degree of actual usage of the smartphone and step counter was also derived from app data. Both actual usage and perception of feasibility were linked to objectively measured change in PA. RESULTS The intervention was well accepted and perceived as feasible by all coaches present in the focus group as well by patients, with 89.3% (142/159) of patients indicating that they enjoyed taking part. Only a minority of patients (8.2%; 13/159) reported that they found it difficult to use the smartphone. Actual usage of the step counter was excellent, with patients wearing it for a median (25th-75th percentiles) of 6.3 (5.8-6.8) days per week, which did not change over time (P=.98). The smartphone interface was used less frequently and actual usage of all daily tasks decreased significantly over time (P<.001). Patients needing more contact time had a smaller increase in PA, with mean (SD) of +193 (SD 2375) steps per day, +907 (SD 2306) steps per day, and +1489 (SD 2310) steps per day in high, medium, and low contact time groups, respectively; P for-trend=.01. The overall actual usage of the different components of the intervention was not associated with change in step count in the total group (P=.63). CONCLUSIONS The 12-week semiautomated PA telecoaching intervention was well accepted and feasible for patients with COPD and their coaches. The actual usage of the step counter was excellent, whereas actual usage of the smartphone tasks was lower and decreased over time. Patients who required more contact experienced less PA benefits. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02158065; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02158065 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/73bsaudy9)

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“…App quality was evaluated employing the uMARS tool [50], which includes 20 items, grouped by sub-domains: 'engagement' (5 items), 'functionality' (4), 'aesthetics' (3), 'information' (4), and 'subjective quality' (4). 'Subjective quality' scale includes four items that assess the intention to use the app in the future (i.e., "Would you recommend this app to people who might benefit from it?…”

Section: Quantitative Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MARS tool, generalized to primary prevention apps [42], has been used in several expert reviews of apps for a variety of behaviors, such as drink-driving [43], food consumption [44], medication adherence [45], mental health and mindfulness [46], quality of life [47], rheumatoid arthritis [48], weight loss related to smoking cessation [49], and weight management [24]. The MARS tool is also available in a simplified version for end-users (i.e., 'uMARS') [50], which was originally tested on two harm minimization and affect management apps [50]. The only differences between the two tools are wording of the questions and the number of items assessing the information domain [41,50].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MARS tool is also available in a simplified version for end-users (i.e., 'uMARS') [50], which was originally tested on two harm minimization and affect management apps [50]. The only differences between the two tools are wording of the questions and the number of items assessing the information domain [41,50]. The uMARS use has been documented in research protocols of trials addressing type 2 diabetes [51], health-related quality of life [52], pneumococcal disease [53], and breastfeeding [54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Quality of Mobile Phone Apps for Weight Management: User-Centered Study With Employees From a Lebanese University (Preprint)

Bardus¹,

Ali²,

Demachkieh³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Background: Evaluating the quality of mHealth apps for weight loss and weight management is important to understand whether these can be used for obesity prevention and treatment. Recent reviews call for more research on multi-dimensional aspects of app quality, especially involving end-users, as there are already many expert reviews on this domain. However, no quantitative study has investigated how lay persons see popular apps for weight management and how they perceive different dimensions of app quality. Objective: To explore how lay persons evaluate the quality of six free weight management apps (MyDietCoach, SparkPeople, Lark, MyFitnessPal, MyPlate, MyDietDiary), which achieved the highest quality ratings in a related and recent expert review. Methods: A user-centered study was conducted with 36 employees of a Lebanese university. Participants enrolled in the study on a rolling basis between October 2016 and March 2017. Participants were randomly assigned an app to use for two weeks. App quality was evaluated at the end of the trial period using the Mobile App Rating Scale (user version, uMARS). uMARS assesses the dimensions of 'engagement', 'functionality', 'aesthetics', 'information', and 'subjective quality' on 5-point scales. Internal consistency and inter-rater agreement were examined. The associations between uMARS scores and background characteristics were also explored using non-parametric tests. Analyses were completed in November 2017. Results: Overall, the six apps were of moderately good quality (Md uMARS score=3.6, IQR=0.3). The highest total uMARS scores were achieved by Lark (M=4.0, SD=0.5) and MyPlate (M=3.8, SD=0.4), which also achieved the highest subjective quality scores (Lark: M=3.3, SD=1.4; MyPlate: M=3.3, SD=0.8). 'Functionality' was the highest-rating domain (Md=3.9, IQR=0.3), followed by 'aesthetics' (Md=3.7, IQR=0.5), 'information' (Md=3.7, IQR=0.1), and 'engagement ' (Md=3.3, IQR=0.2). 'Subjective quality' was judged low (Md=2.5, IQR=0.9). Overall, 'subjective quality' was strongly and positively related (p<0.001) with total uMARS score (rho=0.75), 'engagement' (rho=0.68), 'information' and 'aesthetics' (rho=0.60), but not 'functionality' (rho=0.40, p=0.02). Higher 'engagement' scores were reported among healthy (p=.003) and obese individuals (p=.034), who also showed higher total uMARS (p=.038), and 'subjective quality' (p=.047) scores. Conclusion: Even if the apps were considered highly functional, they were relatively weak in engagement and subjective quality scores, which indicate a low propensity of using the apps in the future. As engagement was the sub-domain most strongly associated with subjective quality, app developers and researchers should focus on creating apps that are engaging, holding constant the functionality, aesthetics, and information quality. The tested apps (in particular Lark and MyPlate) were perceived as more engaging and of higher quality among healthy, obese individuals, making them a promising mode of delivery for self-directed interventions...

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Development and Validation of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS)

Cited by 664 publications

References 16 publications

Assessing Therapeutic Alliance in the Context of mHealth Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Development of the Mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM) Questionnaire (Preprint)

Assessing Therapeutic Alliance in the Context of mHealth Interventions for Mental Health Problems: Development of the Mobile Agnew Relationship Measure (mARM) Questionnaire (Preprint)

Smartphone-Based Physical Activity Telecoaching in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Mixed-Methods Study on Patient Experiences and Lessons for Implementation (Preprint)

Assessing the Quality of Mobile Phone Apps for Weight Management: User-Centered Study With Employees From a Lebanese University (Preprint)

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