Characteristics and functionalities of mobile apps aimed at patients diagnosed with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: systematic app search (Preprint)

Abstract

Immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are systemic conditions associated with a high social and health impact. New treatments have changed the prognosis of IMIDs and have increased patient autonomy in disease management. Mobile apps have enormous potential to improve health outcomes in IMID patients. While a large number of IMID apps are available, the app market is not regulated, and functionality and reliability remain uncertain.

Our objectives were to review available apps for IMID patients and/or caregivers and to describe the main characteristics and functionalities of these apps.

We performed an observational, cross-sectional, descriptive study of all apps for IMID patients. Between April 5 and 14, 2021, we conducted a search of the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android) platforms. We used the names of the different IMIDS as search terms. The inclusion criteria were as follows: 1) content related to IMIDs, 2) English or Spanish language, 3) user population consisting of patients and healthcare consumers, including family and caregivers. The variables analyzed were as follows: app name, type of IMID, platform (Android or iOS), country of origin, language, category of the app, cost, date of the last update, size, downloads, author affiliation, and functionalities.

We identified 713 apps in the initial search, and 243 apps met the criteria and were analyzed. Of these, 37.0% (90/243) were on Android, 27.2% (66/243) on iOS, and 35.8% (87/243) on both platforms. The most frequent categories were health and well-being/fitness apps (188/243 [48.5%]) and medicine (82/243 [37.9%]). A total of 211 apps (82.3%) were free. The mean time between the date of the analysis and the date of the most recent update was 18.5 months (SD = 19.3). Healthcare professionals were involved in the development of 100 apps (41.1%). We found differences between Android and iOS in the time since the last update (16.2 [SD=14.7] months vs. 30.3 [SD=25.7] months), and free apps (85.6% vs. 75.8%; respectively). The functionalities were as follows: general information about lifestyles, nutrition, or exercises (135/243 apps [55.6%]); specific information about the disease or treatment (102/243 apps [42.0%]); recording of symptoms or adverse events (51/243 apps [21.0%]); agenda/calendar (44/243 apps [18.1%]); reminder medication (41/243 apps [16.9%]); and recording of patient-reported outcomes (41/243 apps [16.9%]). A total of 147 apps (60.5%) had more than one functionality.

IMID-related apps are heterogeneous in terms of functionality and reliability. Apps may be a useful complement to IMID care, especially in patient education (their most frequent functionality). However, more than half of the IMID apps had not been developed by healthcare professionals or updated in the last year.