Evaluating accredited mHealth applications. An exploratory study

Abstract

Standards and validation practices regarding mobile health apps need to be established to ensure their proper use and integration into medical practice. This preliminary study aims to conduct a comparative analysis of the entire apps that have been awarded by a Quality Seal to identify significant differences according to the variables analyzed (user, developer, category and consumer ratings) and identified quality attributes. Although the applications analysed are characterised by their heterogeneity, this research found that seven out of 50 remarkable attributes had significant influence on the application evaluation process, according to the recommendations on design, use and assessment of health from AppSaludable. Only some attributes (adaptation of contents, pilot testing, and accessibility and usability) were correlated with some apps’ features. This study can contribute to improving both the processes of validation and quality of medical care of the citizens and in general, the medical practice