How do we know whether medical apps work?

McCartney, Margaret

doi:10.1136/bmj.f1811

Cited by 70 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 3 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…Therefore, the literature suggests that health-care agencies should participate more to ensure patient safety and to improve the accountability and reliability of cancer-related smartphone applications [82][83][84][85][86].…”

Section: M-health Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing cancer care through mobile health

Odeh

Kayyali

Nabhani‐Gebara

et al. 2015

Support Care Cancer

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The survival rates for patients living with cancer are increasing, due to recent advances in detection, prevention and treatment. It has been estimated that there were 28 million cancer survivors around the world in 2012. In the UK, for patients diagnosed in 2007, it is predicted that more than half of them will survive their cancer for 5 years or more. A large majority of cancer survivors report unmet supportive care needs and distressing symptoms and adverse long-term consequences related to their cancer. Cancer management could be optimized to better meet patients demand through technology, including mobile health (m-Health). m-Health is defined as the use of mobile communications and network technologies for health care. m-Health can help both patients and health-care professionals and play an important part in managing and delivering cancer care including managing side effects, supporting drug adherence, providing cancer information, planning and follow up and detecting and diagnosing cancer. Health authorities have already published guidelines regulating m-Health to insure patient safety and improve the accountability of its applications.

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Section: M-health Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimizing cancer care through mobile health

Odeh

Kayyali

Nabhani‐Gebara

et al. 2015

Support Care Cancer

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“…For example, there were apps with instructions for using a manufacturer's AAI, apps providing text reminder services about AAI expiry dates or apps providing text alerts about allergen contamination in the food supply chain. As with other healthcare apps, there is lack of reported evaluation in the literature [42], [43]. In addition, there are no systems or apps providing feedback on injection performance or encouraging maintenance of AAI skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of AllergiSense Smartphone Tools for Adrenaline Injection Training

Hernandez-Munoz

Woolley

Luyt

et al. 2017

IEEE J. Biomed. Health Inform.

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Abstract--Anaphylaxis is an increasingly prevalent lifethreatening allergic condition that requires people with anaphylaxis and their caregivers to be trained in the avoidance of allergen triggers and in the administration of adrenaline autoinjectors. The prompt and correct administration of autoinjectors in the event of an anaphylactic reaction is a significant challenge in the management of anaphylaxis. Unfortunately, many people do not know how to use auto-injectors and either fail to use them or fail to use them correctly. This is due in part to deficiencies in training and also to the lack of a system encouraging continuous practice with feedback. Assistive smartphone healthcare technologies have demonstrated potential to support the management of chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but there have been deficiencies in their evaluation and there has been a lack of application to anaphylaxis. This paper describes AllergiSense, a smartphone app and sensing system for anaphylaxis management, and presents the results of a randomized, controlled, pre-post evaluation of AllergiSense injection training and feedback tools with healthy participants. Participants whose training was supplemented with AllergiSense injection feedback achieved significantly better practiced injections with 90.5% performing correct injections compared to only 28.6% in the paper-only control group. In addition, the results provide insights into possible self-efficacy failings in traditional training and the benefits of embedding self-efficacy theory into the technology design process.

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“…Similarly, McCartney (2013) highlights that users of health apps do not have any source of information to identify which apps provide evidence-based medical content and which do not. She reports that a study in JAMA Dermatology found that many apps designed to diagnose melanoma had a failure of 30%.…”

Section: Table 3: Recommendations To Consumers and App Developersmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review and Comparative Analysis of Security Risks and Safety Measures of Mobile Health Apps

Scott

Richards

Adhikari

2015

AJIS

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In line with a patient-centred model of healthcare, Mobile Health applications (mHealth apps) provide convenient and equitable access to health and well-being resources and programs that can enable consumers to monitor their health related problems, understand specific medical conditions and attain personal fitness goals. This increase in access and control comes with an increase in risk and responsibility to identify and manage the associated risks, such as the privacy and security of consumers' personal and health information. Based on a review of the literature, this paper identifies a set of risk and safety features for evaluating mHealth apps and uses those features to conduct a comparative analysis of the 20 most popular mHealth apps. The comparative analysis reveals that current mHealth apps do pose a risk to consumers. To address the safety and privacy concerns, recommendations to consumers and app developers are offered together with consideration of mHealth app future trends.

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How do we know whether medical apps work?

Abstract: Smartphone apps have the potential to transform the way the public manage their health and interact with health services, says Margaret McCartney, but regulation of medical apps has only just started

Cited by 70 publications

References 3 publications

Optimizing cancer care through mobile health

Optimizing cancer care through mobile health

Evaluation of AllergiSense Smartphone Tools for Adrenaline Injection Training

A Review and Comparative Analysis of Security Risks and Safety Measures of Mobile Health Apps

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