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

Jaime Martín-Martín, Antonio Muro-Culebras, Cristina Roldán-Jiménez, Adrian Escriche-Escuder, Irene De-Torres, Manuel González-Sánchez, María Ruiz-Muñoz, Fermín Mayoral-Cleries, Attila Biró, Wen Tang, Borjanka Nikolova, Alfredo Salvatore and Antonio Cuesta-Vargas
Additional contact information
Jaime Martín-Martín: Department of Human Anatomy, Legal Medicine and History of Science, University of Málaga, 29071 Malaga, Spain
Antonio Muro-Culebras: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
Cristina Roldán-Jiménez: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
Adrian Escriche-Escuder: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
Irene De-Torres: Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Unit, Hospital Regional Universitary, 29010 Malaga, Spain
Manuel González-Sánchez: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
María Ruiz-Muñoz: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
Fermín Mayoral-Cleries: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain
Attila Biró: ITWare, 1117 Budapest, Hungary
Wen Tang: Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth BH12 5BB, UK
Borjanka Nikolova: Arthaus, Production Trade and Service Company, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia
Alfredo Salvatore: Sensor ID Snc, 86021 Boiano, Italy
Antonio Cuesta-Vargas: Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA), 29010 Malaga, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-9

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.

Keywords: mobile application; depression; mobile health (mHealth); exercise; telemedicine; smartphone; mobile app rating scale (MARS) (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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