Rating of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Mobile Applications for Treatment of Urinary Incontinence in Women

Ho, Louisa; Macnab, Andrew; Matsubara, Yoshi; Peterson, Kelsey; Tsang, Brian K.; Stothers, Lynn

doi:10.1016/j.urology.2020.08.040

Cited by 23 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Encouragingly, more than 90% of the stone management apps that capture data provide a privacy policy. These findings are in contradistinction to just 45% of pelvic floor muscle training apps in a recent review, 22 highlighting the variability of data privacy practices in mHealth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Systematic Evaluation of Smartphone Applications for the Medical Management of Nephrolithiasis

Winoker

Koo

Huang

et al. 2021

Journal of Endourology

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Objective: The aim of this study was to comprehensively evaluate the quality of patient-oriented, mobile health applications (apps) available for medical management of kidney stone disease (KSD). Materials and Methods: A systematic search was performed to identify apps from the Apple and Google Play app stores. Eligible apps were divided into two categories: (1) fluid apps and (2) dietary apps. Descriptive characteristics were summarized and app quality was independently evaluated on the basis of technical quality, usability, clinical value, and privacy/security. The validated Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) was the backbone for the evaluation framework. Results: In total, 31 apps (18 fluid apps and 13 dietary apps) were included. Fluid apps outscore dietary apps in all dimensions of MARS quality. All but one fluid app exceeded the minimum acceptable MARS score of 3.0 vs 46% of dietary management apps. Dietary apps feature less functionality and most are limited to noninteractive informational content. While most data-capturing apps provide a privacy policy and ensure that security measures are taken to protect user identity, only 36% offer users choice or consent for secondary use of their data after data have already been collected. Overall, only one app has undergone any form of real-world clinical investigation. Conclusions: Fluid management apps outperform dietary apps in technical quality, usability, and clinical value at the cost of greater privacy/security risks. Despite not being targeted to patients with KSD, they are higher in most quality measures and offer greater functionality to support long-term disease management compared with dietary apps.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Systematic Evaluation of Smartphone Applications for the Medical Management of Nephrolithiasis

Winoker

Koo

Huang

et al. 2021

Journal of Endourology

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“…The femfit® MARS Quality Mean Score (4.1 of 5) is comparable to other top‐scoring PFMT apps such as Squeezy NHS Pelvic Floor App (Quality Mean Score of 4.32 of 5 and 4.1 of 5), Tät (Quality Mean Score of 4.16 of 5 and 4.1 of 5) as evaluated by expert reviewers 19,20 . However, there is an opportunity for improvement in all four sections.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…The femfit® MARS Quality Mean Score (4.1 of 5) is comparable to other top-scoring PFMT apps such as Squeezy NHS Pelvic Floor App (Quality Mean Score of 4.32 of 5 and 4.1 of 5), Tät (Quality Mean Score of 4.16 of 5 and 4.1 of 5) as evaluated by expert reviewers. 19,20 However, there is an opportunity for improvement in all four sections. Similar to the femfit® app, both the Squeezy NHS Pelvic Floor App and the Tät scored lowest for Section A: Engagement; the femfit® app lacks customization and interaction.…”

Section: Mars Section Results From Participants According To Mars Sectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using codesign to develop a mobile application for pelvic floor muscle training with an intravaginal device (femfit®)

Pedofsky

Nielsen

Budgett

et al. 2021

Neurourology and Urodynamics

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The aim of this project was to use codesign to develop a mobile application (app) for pelvic floor muscle training, with an intravaginal device (femfit®). The objective was to obtain user feedback to guide the design and development of a mobile app, consistent with the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) framework. Methods: Twenty-six women (22-62 years) provided mobile app feedback using a Design Thinking framework and grounded theory approach. Four focus groups (2 h each) and two sets of one-to-one interviews (1 h each) were held from May 2018 to October 2019. The researchers debriefed the focus groups and interviews, and undertook analysis based on project objectives and key questions.Results: Recurring themes throughout the study aligned with sections of the MARS: (A) engagement (e.g., progress tracking), (B) functionality (e.g., intuitive interface), (C) aesthetics (e.g., smart graphics and colors), (D) information (e.g., clear, concise information). An internal preliminary assessment determined a MARS Quality Mean Score of 4.1 of 5 (engagement: 3.6 of 5; functionality: 4 of 5; aesthetics: 4.3 of 5: information: 4.4 of 5). Conclusions: The development of the mobile app is on track to meet MARS requirements, and to be a fun, motivating app for women. Future work is required to investigate its efficacy.

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“…While both free and paid applications exist to aid PFME and address urinary incontinence in females, their efficacy has not been well studied. There are 139 mobile applications targeting female stress urinary incontinence and 20 applications met criteria for review (Ho et al, 2021). Of the 20 applications, only one had been trialed and verified in the literature with reported efficacy (Asklund et al, 2017).…”

Section: Mobile Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the 20 applications, only one had been trialed and verified in the literature with reported efficacy (Asklund et al, 2017). Based on the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tool (0 to 5 rating scale), the median MARS for the 20 applications was 3.6, with a range of 2.7 to 4.1 (Ho et al, 2021).…”

Section: Mobile Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pelvic floor muscle exercise and training for coping with urinary incontinence

Cho¹,

Kim²

2021

J Exerc Rehabil

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The pelvic floor consists of levator ani muscles including puborectalis, pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles, and coccygeus muscles. Pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) is defined as exercise to improve pelvic floor muscle strength, power, endurance, relaxation, or a combination of these parameters. PFME strengthens the pelvic floor muscles to provide urethral support to prevent urine leakage and suppress urgency. This exercise has been recommended for urinary incontinence since first described by Kegel. When treating urinary incontinence, particularly stress urinary incontinence, PFME has been recommended as first-line treatment. This article provides clinical application of PFME as a behavioral therapy for urinary incontinence. Clinicians and physical therapist should understand pelvic floor muscle anatomy, evaluation, regimen, and instruct patients how to train the muscles properly.

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Rating of Pelvic Floor Muscle Training Mobile Applications for Treatment of Urinary Incontinence in Women

Cited by 23 publications

References 23 publications

Systematic Evaluation of Smartphone Applications for the Medical Management of Nephrolithiasis

Systematic Evaluation of Smartphone Applications for the Medical Management of Nephrolithiasis

Using codesign to develop a mobile application for pelvic floor muscle training with an intravaginal device (femfit®)

Pelvic floor muscle exercise and training for coping with urinary incontinence

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