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Evaluation of Android and Apple Store Depression Applications Based on Mobile Application Rating Scale.

Martín-Martín, J., Muro-Culebras, A., Roldán-Jiménez, C., Escriche-Escuder, A., De-Torres, I., González-Sánchez, M., Ruiz-Muñoz, M., Mayoral-Cleries, F., Biró, A., Tang, W., Nikolova, B., Salvatore, A. and Cuesta-Vargas, A., 2021. Evaluation of Android and Apple Store Depression Applications Based on Mobile Application Rating Scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (23), 12505.

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DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182312505

Abstract

There are a large number of mobile applications that allow the monitoring of health status. The quality of the applications is only evaluated by users and not by standard criteria. This study aimed to examine depression-related applications in major mobile application stores and to analyze them using the rating scale tool Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). A search of digital applications for the control of symptoms and behavioral changes in depression was carried out in the two reference mobile operating systems, Apple (App Store) and Android (Play Store), by means of two reviewers with a blind methodology between September and October 2019 in stores from Spain and the United Kingdom. Eighteen applications from the Android Play Store and twelve from the App Store were included in this study. The quality of the applications was evaluated using the MARS scale from 1 (inadequate) to 5 (excellent). The average score of the applications based on the MARS was 3.67 ± 0.53. The sections with the highest scores were "Functionality" (4.51) and "Esthetics" (3.98) and the lowest "Application Subjective quality" (2.86) and "Information" (3.08). Mobile Health applications for the treatment of depression have great potential to influence the health status of users; however, applications come to the digital market without health control.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1660-4601
Additional Information:This article belongs to the Special Issue Mobile Health Interventions
Uncontrolled Keywords:depression ; exercise ; mobile app rating scale (MARS) ; mobile application ; mobile health (mHealth) ; smartphone ; telemedicine
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:36380
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:14 Dec 2021 10:17
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 14:31

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