“Help in a Heartbeat?”: A Systematic Evaluation of Mobile Health Applications (Apps) for Coronary Heart Disease

Chiara Mack, Yannik Terhorst, Mirjam Stephan, Harald Baumeister, Michael Stach, Eva-Maria Messner, Jürgen Bengel and Lasse B. Sander
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Chiara Mack: Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany
Yannik Terhorst: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89040 Ulm, Germany
Mirjam Stephan: Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany
Harald Baumeister: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89040 Ulm, Germany
Michael Stach: Institute of Databases and Information Systems, Ulm University, 89040 Ulm, Germany
Eva-Maria Messner: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, Ulm University, 89040 Ulm, Germany
Jürgen Bengel: Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany
Lasse B. Sander: Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg, 79085 Freiburg, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-15

Abstract: For patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) lifestyle changes and disease management are key aspects of treatment that could be facilitated by mobile health applications (MHA). However, the quality and functions of MHA for CHD are largely unknown, since reviews are missing. Therefore, this study assessed the general characteristics, quality, and functions of MHA for CHD. Hereby, the Google Play and Apple App stores were systematically searched using a web crawler. The general characteristics and quality of MHA were rated with the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) by two independent raters. From 3078 identified MHA, 38 met the pre-defined criteria and were included in the assessment. Most MHA were affiliated with commercial companies (52.63%) and lacked an evidence-base. An overall average quality of MHA ( M = 3.38, SD = 0.36) was found with deficiencies in information quality and engagement. The most common functions were provision of information and CHD risk score calculators. Further functions included reminders (e.g., for medication or exercises), feedback, and health management support. Most MHA (81.58%) had one or two functions and MHA with more features had mostly higher MARS ratings. In summary, this review demonstrated that a number of potentially helpful MHA for patients with CHD are commercially available. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence documenting their usability and clinical potential. Since it is difficult for patients and healthcare providers to find suitable and high-quality MHA, databases with professionally reviewed MHA are required.

Keywords: coronary heart disease (CHD); apps; mobile health; eHealth; systematic evaluation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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