Abstract
BackgroundMobile health services are thriving in the field of maternal and child health in China due to expansions in the field of electronic health and the introduction of the two-child policy. There are numerous maternal and child health apps in computer stores, but the exact number of apps, number of downloads, and features of these apps is not known.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the use of maternal and child health apps in Android and iOS app stores and to describe the key functional features of the most popular apps, with the purpose of providing insight into further research and development of maternal and child health mobile health products.MethodsThe researchers conducted a search in the 3 most popular Android app stores (Tencent MyApp, Baidu Mobile Assistant, and 360 Mobile Assistant) and the iTunes App Store in China. All apps regarding family planning (contraception and preparing for pregnancy), pregnancy and perinatal care, neonatal care and health, and development for children under 6 years were included in the initial analysis. Maternal and child health mobile apps with predominant features of product marketing, children’s songs, animation, or games were excluded from the study. The 50 most frequently used apps in each of the Android stores as well as the iTunes store (a total of 78 deduplicated apps) were selected and downloaded for an in-depth analysis.ResultsA total of 5276 Android apps and 877 iOS apps developed for maternal and child health care were identified. Of the 78 most frequently used apps, 43 (55%) apps focused on one stage of MCH care, mainly targeting child care (25 apps) and before pregnancy care (11 apps), whereas 35 (45%) of the apps covered 2 or more stages, most of which (32 apps) included both pregnancy and child care services. The app features that were commonly adopted by the popular apps were health education, communication, health status self-monitoring, a diary, reminders, and counseling. Within the app feature of “health status self-monitoring,” the researchers found 47 specific tools supporting activities such as pregnancy preparation, fetal heart monitoring, blood glucose and blood pressure monitoring, and doctor visits. A few apps were equipped with external devices (n=3) or sensors. No app with intelligent decision-support features to support disease management for conditions such as gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension was found. A small number of apps (n=5) had a Web connection with hospital information systems to support appointment making, payments, hospital service guidance, or checking of laboratory results.ConclusionsThere are thousands of maternal and child health apps in the Chinese market. Child care, pregnancy, and before pregnancy were the mostly covered maternal and child health stages, in that order. Various app features and tools were adopted by maternal and child health apps, but the use of internal or external sensors, intelligent decision support, and tethering with existing hospital information systems was rare and these features need more research and development.
Highlights
In the 21st century, mobile health, defined as the use of mobile phones and other wireless technology in health care, is a burgeoning field within public health [1]
With the rapid development of mobile health (mHealth), thousands of maternal and child health (MCH) apps have appeared in China in Android app markets and Apple’s app market
The popularity of mobile internet use and the universal two-child policy [7] will most likely result in an expansion of the current app market on MCH care
Summary
In the 21st century, mobile health (mHealth), defined as the use of mobile phones and other wireless technology in health care, is a burgeoning field within public health [1]. With the rapid development of mHealth, thousands of maternal and child health (MCH) apps have appeared in China in Android app markets and Apple’s app market. The popularity of mobile internet use (through devices such as mobile phones) and the universal two-child policy [7] will most likely result in an expansion of the current app market on MCH care. The market research agency “iResearch” reported that the use of Chinese maternal and child mobile apps (excluding mobile business apps) increased at a rate of 40% and 60% in 2015 and 2016, respectively [8]. We conducted a study intending to find the most frequently used apps on MCH care in Android and iOS app stores, describe the utility and features, and to provide recommendations for app developers and researchers. There are numerous maternal and child health apps in computer stores, but the exact number of apps, number of downloads, and features of these apps is not known
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