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MADISON, WISC. – according to a recent review.
In assessing the 23 publicly available apps aimed at patients or providers, the median score on a common assessment of smartphone apps was just 3.8 on a 5-point scale, said Priyanka Iyer, MBBS, MPH.
Speaking in an interview at the annual meeting of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN), Dr. Iyer pointed out several ways that apps could be optimized. Foremost, she said, is providing secure ways to store and transmit protected health information. Also, apps still haven’t realized their potential to support true comanagement of spondyloarthritis (SpA) via secure, direct patient-provider communication.
“This is an area that we researched previously in rheumatoid arthritis and gout,” explained Dr. Iyer, a rheumatology fellow at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. “We found 23 apps that are available between the Android and iOS platforms; most of them are actually centered towards patients.” In their review, Dr. Iyer and coauthor, Bharat Kumar, MD, had excluded apps that primarily focused on other types of arthritis, using search terms that focused on SpA.
In looking at the 11 provider-centered apps and the 12 that were patient focused, Dr. Iyer and coauthor independently reviewed features of each app. Factors they considered included adherence to guidelines, amount of correct medical information provided, and specific features including capacity to store imaging and test results, and ability to host patient-provider communication.
Of the provider-centered apps, 10 contained appropriate classification criteria, and 7 also contained medical imaging characteristics of the target conditions. Six apps guided providers through treatment options, and two had educational videos.
Of the 12 patient-centered apps, 8 provided disease information, and 6 gave exercise recommendations. Five of the apps had prompts that reminded patients to take medication, and three had tools to help patients record and track symptoms. Similarly, three apps had features to help patients monitor disease activity. Two of the apps were primarily access points for a patient support forum.
Additionally, each app was evaluated by each reviewer using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), said Dr. Iyer. “The overall rating was pretty low, at 3.8 [of a possible 5.0]. Factors that increased the MARS scores included affiliations to organizations in the United Kingdom and Canada; for patients who use these apps, their information is automatically transmitted to their providers, and they are able to also access imaging and most of their other health care information on the app.”
Another factor associated with a higher MARS score was design that included health professional participation, which was the case for 16 apps (69.6%). Apps that included calculators of disease activity were also more likely to achieve a higher MARS score, Dr. Iyer and coauthor wrote.
Notably, just 9 of 23 apps (39.1%) included citations referencing their source for medical information.
“I think future areas for improvement and for development of apps include securing individual health information to allow direct communication between patients and providers,” Dr. Iyer said. “I hope that some patients use these apps to learn, and to help their self-management improve.”
“There is an unmet need for high-quality mobile apps for longitudinal assessment of SpA disease activity,” Dr. Iyer and colleagues wrote in the poster accompanying the presentation. “Many mobile apps are not scientifically well sourced and may not convey up-to-date information accurately.”
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and no outside sources of funding.
SOURCE: Iyer P et al. SPARTAN 2019.
MADISON, WISC. – according to a recent review.
In assessing the 23 publicly available apps aimed at patients or providers, the median score on a common assessment of smartphone apps was just 3.8 on a 5-point scale, said Priyanka Iyer, MBBS, MPH.
Speaking in an interview at the annual meeting of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN), Dr. Iyer pointed out several ways that apps could be optimized. Foremost, she said, is providing secure ways to store and transmit protected health information. Also, apps still haven’t realized their potential to support true comanagement of spondyloarthritis (SpA) via secure, direct patient-provider communication.
“This is an area that we researched previously in rheumatoid arthritis and gout,” explained Dr. Iyer, a rheumatology fellow at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. “We found 23 apps that are available between the Android and iOS platforms; most of them are actually centered towards patients.” In their review, Dr. Iyer and coauthor, Bharat Kumar, MD, had excluded apps that primarily focused on other types of arthritis, using search terms that focused on SpA.
In looking at the 11 provider-centered apps and the 12 that were patient focused, Dr. Iyer and coauthor independently reviewed features of each app. Factors they considered included adherence to guidelines, amount of correct medical information provided, and specific features including capacity to store imaging and test results, and ability to host patient-provider communication.
Of the provider-centered apps, 10 contained appropriate classification criteria, and 7 also contained medical imaging characteristics of the target conditions. Six apps guided providers through treatment options, and two had educational videos.
Of the 12 patient-centered apps, 8 provided disease information, and 6 gave exercise recommendations. Five of the apps had prompts that reminded patients to take medication, and three had tools to help patients record and track symptoms. Similarly, three apps had features to help patients monitor disease activity. Two of the apps were primarily access points for a patient support forum.
Additionally, each app was evaluated by each reviewer using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), said Dr. Iyer. “The overall rating was pretty low, at 3.8 [of a possible 5.0]. Factors that increased the MARS scores included affiliations to organizations in the United Kingdom and Canada; for patients who use these apps, their information is automatically transmitted to their providers, and they are able to also access imaging and most of their other health care information on the app.”
Another factor associated with a higher MARS score was design that included health professional participation, which was the case for 16 apps (69.6%). Apps that included calculators of disease activity were also more likely to achieve a higher MARS score, Dr. Iyer and coauthor wrote.
Notably, just 9 of 23 apps (39.1%) included citations referencing their source for medical information.
“I think future areas for improvement and for development of apps include securing individual health information to allow direct communication between patients and providers,” Dr. Iyer said. “I hope that some patients use these apps to learn, and to help their self-management improve.”
“There is an unmet need for high-quality mobile apps for longitudinal assessment of SpA disease activity,” Dr. Iyer and colleagues wrote in the poster accompanying the presentation. “Many mobile apps are not scientifically well sourced and may not convey up-to-date information accurately.”
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and no outside sources of funding.
SOURCE: Iyer P et al. SPARTAN 2019.
MADISON, WISC. – according to a recent review.
In assessing the 23 publicly available apps aimed at patients or providers, the median score on a common assessment of smartphone apps was just 3.8 on a 5-point scale, said Priyanka Iyer, MBBS, MPH.
Speaking in an interview at the annual meeting of the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network (SPARTAN), Dr. Iyer pointed out several ways that apps could be optimized. Foremost, she said, is providing secure ways to store and transmit protected health information. Also, apps still haven’t realized their potential to support true comanagement of spondyloarthritis (SpA) via secure, direct patient-provider communication.
“This is an area that we researched previously in rheumatoid arthritis and gout,” explained Dr. Iyer, a rheumatology fellow at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. “We found 23 apps that are available between the Android and iOS platforms; most of them are actually centered towards patients.” In their review, Dr. Iyer and coauthor, Bharat Kumar, MD, had excluded apps that primarily focused on other types of arthritis, using search terms that focused on SpA.
In looking at the 11 provider-centered apps and the 12 that were patient focused, Dr. Iyer and coauthor independently reviewed features of each app. Factors they considered included adherence to guidelines, amount of correct medical information provided, and specific features including capacity to store imaging and test results, and ability to host patient-provider communication.
Of the provider-centered apps, 10 contained appropriate classification criteria, and 7 also contained medical imaging characteristics of the target conditions. Six apps guided providers through treatment options, and two had educational videos.
Of the 12 patient-centered apps, 8 provided disease information, and 6 gave exercise recommendations. Five of the apps had prompts that reminded patients to take medication, and three had tools to help patients record and track symptoms. Similarly, three apps had features to help patients monitor disease activity. Two of the apps were primarily access points for a patient support forum.
Additionally, each app was evaluated by each reviewer using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS), said Dr. Iyer. “The overall rating was pretty low, at 3.8 [of a possible 5.0]. Factors that increased the MARS scores included affiliations to organizations in the United Kingdom and Canada; for patients who use these apps, their information is automatically transmitted to their providers, and they are able to also access imaging and most of their other health care information on the app.”
Another factor associated with a higher MARS score was design that included health professional participation, which was the case for 16 apps (69.6%). Apps that included calculators of disease activity were also more likely to achieve a higher MARS score, Dr. Iyer and coauthor wrote.
Notably, just 9 of 23 apps (39.1%) included citations referencing their source for medical information.
“I think future areas for improvement and for development of apps include securing individual health information to allow direct communication between patients and providers,” Dr. Iyer said. “I hope that some patients use these apps to learn, and to help their self-management improve.”
“There is an unmet need for high-quality mobile apps for longitudinal assessment of SpA disease activity,” Dr. Iyer and colleagues wrote in the poster accompanying the presentation. “Many mobile apps are not scientifically well sourced and may not convey up-to-date information accurately.”
The authors reported no conflicts of interest and no outside sources of funding.
SOURCE: Iyer P et al. SPARTAN 2019.
REPORTING FROM SPARTAN 2019