Abstract
BackgroundMedical applications (apps) for smart phones and tablet computers are growing in number and are commonly used in healthcare. In this context, there is a need for a diverse community of app users, medical researchers, and app developers to better understand the app landscape.MethodsIn mid-2012, we undertook an environmental scan and classification of the medical app landscape in the two dominant platforms by searching the medical category of the Apple iTunes and Google Play app download sites. We identified target audiences, functions, costs and content themes using app descriptions and captured these data in a database. We only included apps released or updated between October 1, 2011 and May 31, 2012, with a primary “medical” app store categorization, in English, that contained health or medical content. Our sample of Android apps was limited to the most popular apps in the medical category.ResultsOur final sample of Apple iOS (n = 4561) and Android (n = 293) apps illustrate a diverse medical app landscape. The proportion of Apple iOS apps for the public (35%) and for physicians (36%) is similar. Few Apple iOS apps specifically target nurses (3%). Within the Android apps, those targeting the public dominated in our sample (51%). The distribution of app functions is similar in both platforms with reference being the most common function. Most app functions and content themes vary considerably by target audience. Social media apps are more common for patients and the public, while conference apps target physicians.ConclusionsWe characterized existing medical apps and illustrated their diversity in terms of target audience, main functions, cost and healthcare topic. The resulting app database is a resource for app users, app developers and health informatics researchers.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-573) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Medical applications for smart phones and tablet computers are growing in number and are commonly used in healthcare
Our objectives were to broadly describe the medical app landscape in terms of: 1) target audiences, 2) main functions performed by medical apps, 3) app functions viewed by target audience, 4) cost, and 5) healthcare topics examined by target audience
Characterization of Apple iOS apps from the medical category Distribution of Apple iOS apps by target audience Figure 1 illustrates the number of medical apps identified for each target audience in our Apple iOS sample
Summary
Medical applications (apps) for smart phones and tablet computers are growing in number and are commonly used in healthcare In this context, there is a need for a diverse community of app users, medical researchers, and app developers to better understand the app landscape. Medical applications (“apps”) for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers provide healthcare professionals, patients, and the public with a growing number of specialized tools and resources. Reviews of apps that target specific health conditions [6,7,8,9,10] explore a larger number of available apps for patients These studies provide insight into the range of functions performed by patient apps, such as education and diary/ tracking. To the best of our knowledge, a comprehensive description of the medical app landscape for the dominant platforms has not been developed
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