Mobile applications for endometriosis management functionalities: Analysis and potential

Abstract

BackgroundEndometriosis is a chronic gynecological inflammatory disease affecting women at reproductive age, it is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue implants outside the uterus, causing severe pelvic pain during periods, urination, and intercourse, in addition to the great impact on infertility. This disease must be taken seriously by public health systems because of its significant impact on women's mental and sexual quality of life as well as the huge economic burden. Therefore, prompt advanced Endometriosis management is obligatory to provide affected women with maximum health protection. In this context, taking full advantage of new technologies especially using mobile apps for Endometriosis monitoring is a promising strategy, given the explosive growth of mobile apps especially mobile health apps available in the biggest app stores. ObjectiveThis paper aims to study, analyze, and evaluate the functionalities and features of mobile apps that are specific to Endometriosis management and monitoring. MethodsA systematic literature review (SLR) protocol has been applied to conduct the selection process, the extraction of data, and the functional assessment of available Endometriosis management mobile apps on both Android Google Play Store and iOS App Store. The features and functionalities of the selected mobile apps have been analyzed based on a 25-item assessment questionnaire designed by referring to a rigorous preliminary analysis of recent Endometriosis scientific literature and available mobile apps. The data items were divided into four main groups: Endometriosis care, notes and records, Social and emotional support, and app technical features. ResultsA total of 25 Endometriosis management mobile apps have been extracted (12 Android and 13 iOS mobile apps), analyzed, and evaluated by two independent authors. According to the functional content and technical analysis results, the obtained scores of the selected Endometriosis management mobile apps were quite low, more specifically for Android mobile apps, due to the complexity of Endometriosis disease management. ConclusionsThis study helps to identify areas related to the management of Endometriosis that need additional efforts to be adequately addressed. It is considered the reference for mobile developers to explore and take benefit of the potential of mobile technologies and standards to build ease of use, secure, performant, and intelligent Endometriosis management mobile apps that can meet the functional needs of the different stakeholders, especially affected women, healthcare providers, clinicians, and policymakers.