Evaluating mobile health applications as digital therapeutical products

Abstract

The emergence of new technological advancements and the unprecedented expansion of mobile phone usage has led to the exponential growth of Mobile Health Applications (mHealth apps) development and implementation in the global markets. mHealth apps have created innovative channels to diagnose, treat, monitor, and engage with patients in various healthcare settings, and therefore, it is an important exploration in the fields of information technology, healthcare, and cognitive behavioural sciences. However, a significant portion of mHealth apps has been identified to be developed without scientific or clinical evidence. The objective of implementing the proposed "mHealth App Evaluation Tool" and its validation of the perceived usefulness of the tool from clinicians, mHealth app developers and end-users is to provide a solution for addressing the current gap in evaluating the efficacy of unregulated mHealth apps. An extensive review of the literature from 2010 to 2022 was conducted in three separate phases, gathering and synthesising the core concepts of the mHealth app landscape, proposed frameworks and parameters, the evolution and construction of unidimensional and multidimensional scales and the use of multi-stakeholder participation for a holistic evaluation process. The proposed mHealth app evaluation tool was developed on the foundation of six design drivers: modifiability, scalability, multi-stakeholder involvement, simultaneous management of multiple evaluation projects, ease of use and accessibility. The development of the tool utilised the RestFul API pattern, leveraging Laravel PHP and Vue.js frameworks. The data collection process was completed in two separate phases. The first phase involved the data obtained from the participant's evaluation of the WYSA app using the proposed mHealth App Evaluation Tool. The system auto-generated an associated average score out of 5 against each evaluation. The second phase involved the data collection during the 30 minutes interview session. Due to the ever-changing nature of software applications, it is inevitable that the elements of mHealth app evaluation will continue to evolve and change over time. What is deemed to be necessary and critical in evaluating mHealth apps today may not be so in years to come. The mHealth App Evaluation tool addresses the need for future criteria modifications, scalability, and the necessity to obtain expert knowledge from multiple stakeholders for a holistic mHealth app evaluation.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English