A Lot of Action, But Not in the Right Direction: Systematic Review and Content Analysis of Smartphone Applications for the Prevention, Detection, and Management of Cancer

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Background

Mobile phones have become nearly ubiquitous, offering a promising means to deliver health interventions. However, little is known about smartphone applications (apps) for cancer.

Objective

The purpose of this study was to characterize the purpose and content of cancer-focused smartphone apps available for use by the general public and the evidence on their utility or effectiveness.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review of the official application stores for the four major smartphone platforms: iPhone, Android, Nokia, and BlackBerry. Apps were included in the review if they were focused on cancer and available for use by the general public. This was complemented by a systematic review of literature from MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify evaluations of cancer-related smartphone apps.

Results

A total of 295 apps from the smartphone app stores met the inclusion criteria. The majority of apps targeted breast cancer (46.8%, 138/295) or cancer in general (28.5%, 84/295). The reported app purpose was predominantly to raise awareness about cancer (32.2%, 95/295) or to provide educational information about cancer (26.4%, 78/295), followed by apps to support fundraising efforts (12.9%, 38/295), assist in early detection (11.5%, 34/295), promote a charitable organization (10.2%, 30/295), support disease management (3.7%, 11/295), cancer prevention (2.0%, 6/295), or social support (1.0%, 3/295). The majority of the apps did not describe their organizational affiliation (64.1%, 189/295). Apps affiliated with non-profit organizations were more likely to be free of cost (χ ² ₁=16.3, P<.001) and have a fundraising or awareness purpose (χ ² ₂=13.3, P=.001). The review of the health literature yielded 594 articles, none of which reported an evaluation of a cancer-focused smartphone application.

Conclusions

There are hundreds of cancer-focused apps with the potential to enhance efforts to promote behavior change, to monitor a host of symptoms and physiological indicators of disease, and to provide real-time supportive interventions, conveniently and at low cost. However, there is a lack of evidence on their utility, effectiveness, and safety. Future efforts should focus on improving and consolidating the evidence base into a whitelist for public consumption.

Related collections

Most cited references 24

Record: found
Abstract: not found
Article: not found

Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: the PRISMA statement.

David Moher, Alessandro Liberati, Jennifer Tetzlaff … (2009)

0 comments Cited 7569 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Features of Mobile Diabetes Applications: Review of the Literature and Analysis of Current Applications Compared Against Evidence-Based Guidelines

Taridzo Chomutare, Luis Fernández Luque, Eirik Årsand … (2011)

Background Interest in mobile health (mHealth) applications for self-management of diabetes is growing. In July 2009, we found 60 diabetes applications on iTunes for iPhone; by February 2011 the number had increased by more than 400% to 260. Other mobile platforms reflect a similar trend. Despite the growth, research on both the design and the use of diabetes mHealth applications is scarce. Furthermore, the potential influence of social media on diabetes mHealth applications is largely unexplored. Objective Our objective was to study the salient features of mobile applications for diabetes care, in contrast to clinical guideline recommendations for diabetes self-management. These clinical guidelines are published by health authorities or associations such as the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the United Kingdom and the American Diabetes Association. Methods We searched online vendor markets (online stores for Apple iPhone, Google Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia Symbian), journal databases, and gray literature related to diabetes mobile applications. We included applications that featured a component for self-monitoring of blood glucose and excluded applications without English-language user interfaces, as well as those intended exclusively for health care professionals. We surveyed the following features: (1) self-monitoring: (1.1) blood glucose, (1.2) weight, (1.3) physical activity, (1.4) diet, (1.5) insulin and medication, and (1.6) blood pressure, (2) education, (3) disease-related alerts and reminders, (4) integration of social media functions, (5) disease-related data export and communication, and (6) synchronization with personal health record (PHR) systems or patient portals. We then contrasted the prevalence of these features with guideline recommendations. Results The search resulted in 973 matches, of which 137 met the selection criteria. The four most prevalent features of the applications available on the online markets (n = 101) were (1) insulin and medication recording, 63 (62%), (2) data export and communication, 61 (60%), (3) diet recording, 47 (47%), and (4) weight management, 43 (43%). From the literature search (n = 26), the most prevalent features were (1) PHR or Web server synchronization, 18 (69%), (2) insulin and medication recording, 17 (65%), (3) diet recording, 17 (65%), and (4) data export and communication, 16 (62%). Interestingly, although clinical guidelines widely refer to the importance of education, this is missing from the top functionalities in both cases. Conclusions While a wide selection of mobile applications seems to be available for people with diabetes, this study shows there are obvious gaps between the evidence-based recommendations and the functionality used in study interventions or found in online markets. Current results confirm personalized education as an underrepresented feature in diabetes mobile applications. We found no studies evaluating social media concepts in diabetes self-management on mobile devices, and its potential remains largely unexplored.

0 comments Cited 160 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Smartphone applications for pain management.

Christopher Eccleston, B R Simon Rosser (2010)

Smartphone applications (or apps) are becoming increasingly popular. The lack of regulation or guidance for health-related apps means that the validity and reliability of their content is unknown. We have conducted a review of available apps relating to the generic condition of pain. The official application stores for five major smartphone platforms were searched: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Nokia/Symbian and Windows Mobile. Apps were included if they reported a focus on pain education, management or relief, and were not solely aimed at health-care professionals (HCPs). A total of 111 apps met the inclusion criteria. The majority of apps reviewed claimed some information provision or electronic manual component. Diary tracking of pain variables was also a common feature. There was a low level of stated HCP involvement in app development and content. Despite an increasing number of apps being released, the frequency of HCP involvement is not increasing. Pain apps appear to be able to promise pain relief without any concern for the effectiveness of the product, or for possible adverse effects of product use. In a population often desperate for a solution to distressing and debilitating pain conditions, there is considerable risk of individuals being misled.

0 comments Cited 123 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Contributors

Jacqueline Lorene Bender:

ELLICSR Health, Wellness and Cancer Survivorship CentrePrincess Margaret Cancer CentreUniversity Health Network200 Elizabeth StreetToronto, ON, M5G 2C4Canada1 416 581 86061 416 340 3595jackie.bender@rmp.uhn.on.ca

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMIR

Title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc. (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Print): 1439-4456

ISSN (Electronic): 1438-8871

Publication date Collection: December 2013

Publication date (Electronic): 23 December 2013

Volume: 15

Issue: 12

Electronic Location Identifier: e287

Affiliations

[1] ¹ELLICSR Health, Wellness and Cancer Survivorship Centre Princess Margaret Cancer Centre University Health Network Toronto, ONCanada

[2] ²Centre for Global eHealth Innovation Toronto General Hospital University Health Network Toronto, ONCanada

[3] ³Dalla Lana School of Public Health University of Toronto Toronto, ONCanada

[4] ⁴Universite Montpellier MontpellierFrance

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Jacqueline Lorene Bender jackie.bender@ 123456rmp.uhn.on.ca

Article

Publisher ID: v15i12e287

DOI: 10.2196/jmir.2661

PMC ID: 3875901

PubMed ID: 24366061

SO-VID: 4d5d77c1-48f5-4e1f-abdd-8a5109cb0a4f

Copyright © ©Jacqueline Lorene Bender, Rossini Ying Kwan Yue, Matthew Jason To, Laetitia Deacken, Alejandro R Jadad. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 23.12.2013.

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 09 April 2013

Date revision requested : 08 May 2013

Date revision received : 13 September 2013

Date accepted : 22 November 2013

Comments

Comment on this article

scite_

Cited by 142

See all cited by

Most referenced authors 727

See all reference authors

- Version 1

Submit your digital health research with an established publisher
- celebrating 25 years of open access