Mobile Health Apps for Self-Management of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Systematic Literature Review.

Aurélie Najm,Laure Gossec,Catherine Weill,Francis Berenbaum,Elena Nikiphorou,David Benoist

doi:10.2196/14730

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough the increasing availability of mobile health (mHealth) apps may enable people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) to better self-manage their health, there is a general lack of evidence on ways to ensure appropriate development and evaluation of apps.ObjectiveThis study aimed to obtain an overview on existing mHealth apps for self-management in patients with RMDs, focusing on content and development methods.MethodsA search was performed up to December 2017 across 5 databases. For each publication relevant to an app for RMDs, information on the disease, purpose, content, and development strategies was extracted and qualitatively assessed.ResultsOf 562 abstracts, 32 were included in the analysis. Of these 32 abstracts, 11 (34%) referred to an app linked to a connected device. Most of the apps targeted rheumatoid arthritis (11/32, 34%). The top three aspects addressed by the apps were pain (23/32, 71%), fatigue (15/32, 47%), and physical activity (15/32, 47%). The development process of the apps was described in 84% (27/32) of the articles and was of low to moderate quality in most of the cases. Despite most of the articles having been published within the past two years, only 5 apps were still commercially available at the time of our search. Moreover, only very few studies showed improvement of RMD outcome measures.ConclusionsThe development process of most apps was of low or moderate quality in many studies. Owing to the increasing RMD patients’ willingness to use mHealth apps for self-management, optimal standards and quality assurance of new apps are mandatory.

Highlights

IntroductionThe increasing availability of mobile health (mHealth) apps may enable people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) to better self-manage their health, there is a general lack of evidence on ways to ensure appropriate development and evaluation of apps
475 abstracts were screened based on title and abstract
The primary endpoint was met with a reduction of catastrophizing score in the treated group compared with the control group. This is the first piece of work to identify literature published on self-management mobile health (mHealth) apps for patients living with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs)

Summary

Introduction

The increasing availability of mobile health (mHealth) apps may enable people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) to better self-manage their health, there is a general lack of evidence on ways to ensure appropriate development and evaluation of apps. Objective: This study aimed to obtain an overview on existing mHealth apps for self-management in patients with RMDs, focusing on content and development methods. Conclusions: The development process of most apps was of low or moderate quality in many studies. Owing to the increasing RMD patients’ willingness to use mHealth apps for self-management, optimal standards and quality assurance of new apps are mandatory. Since the first description of the concept of mHealth [1], its popularity has exponentially increased This is primarily because of the fast expanding technological advances including the development of smartphones and fourth generation mobile communication system networks. The impressive popularity of mHealth apps in the last decade is reflected by the number of downloads in recent years, exceeding 200 million in 2010 [2]

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