The Mobile Health App Trustworthiness Checklist: Usability Assessment

Abstract

Background The mobile health (mHealth) app trustworthiness (mHAT) checklist was created to identify end users’ opinions on the characteristics of trustworthy mHealth apps and to communicate this information to app developers. To ensure that the checklist is suited for all relevant stakeholders, it is necessary to validate its contents. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of the mHAT checklist by modifying its contents according to ratings and suggestions from stakeholders familiar with the process of developing, managing, or curating mHealth apps. Methods A 44-item online survey was administered to relevant stakeholders. The survey was largely comprised of the mHAT checklist items, which respondents rated on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from completely disagree (1) to completely agree (5). Results In total, seven professional backgrounds were represented in the survey: administrators (n=6), health professionals (n=7), information technology personnel (n=6), managers (n=2), marketing personnel (n=3), researchers (n=5), and user experience researchers (n=8). Aside from one checklist item—“the app can inform end users about errors in measurements”—the combined positive ratings (ie, completely agree and agree) of the checklist items overwhelmingly exceeded the combined negative ratings (ie, completely disagree and disagree). Meanwhile, two additional items were included in the checklist: (1) business or funding model of the app and (2) details on app uninstallation statistics. Conclusions Our results indicate that the mHAT checklist is a valuable resource for a broad range of stakeholders to develop trustworthy mHealth apps. Future studies should examine if the checklist works best for certain mHealth apps or in specific settings.