Quality of Publicly Available Physical Activity Apps: Review and Content Analysis

Paulina Bondaronek; Ghadah Alkhaldi; April Slee; Fiona L Hamilton; Elizabeth Murray

doi:10.2196/mhealth.9069

Quality of Publicly Available Physical Activity Apps: Review and Content Analysis

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018 Mar 21;6(3):e53. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.9069.

Authors

Paulina Bondaronek^#¹, Ghadah Alkhaldi², April Slee³, Fiona L Hamilton¹, Elizabeth Murray¹

Affiliations

¹ eHealth Unit, Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
² Community Health Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Within the new digital health landscape, the rise of health apps creates novel prospects for health promotion. The market is saturated with apps that aim to increase physical activity (PA). Despite the wide distribution and popularity of PA apps, there are limited data on their effectiveness, user experience, and safety of personal data.

Objective: The purpose of this review and content analysis was to evaluate the quality of the most popular PA apps on the market using health care quality indicators.

Methods: The top-ranked 400 free and paid apps from iTunes and Google Play stores were screened. Apps were included if the primary behavior targeted was PA, targeted users were adults, and the apps had stand-alone functionality. The apps were downloaded on mobile phones and assessed by 2 reviewers against the following quality assessment criteria: (1) users' data privacy and security, (2) presence of behavior change techniques (BCTs) and quality of the development and evaluation processes, and (3) user ratings and usability.

Results: Out of 400 apps, 156 met the inclusion criteria, of which 65 apps were randomly selected to be downloaded and assessed. Almost 30% apps (19/65) did not have privacy policy. Every app contained at least one BCT, with an average number of 7 and a maximum of 13 BCTs. All but one app had commercial affiliation, 12 consulted an expert, and none reported involving users in the app development. Only 12 of 65 apps had a peer-reviewed study connected to the app. User ratings were high, with only a quarter of the ratings falling below 4 stars. The median usability score was excellent-86.3 out of 100.

Conclusions: Despite the popularity of PA apps available on the commercial market, there were substantial shortcomings in the areas of data safety and likelihood of effectiveness of the apps assessed. The limited quality of the apps may represent a missed opportunity for PA promotion.

Keywords: eHealth review; exercise; health behavior; health promotion; mHealth; mobile applications.

©Paulina Bondaronek, Ghadah Alkhaldi, April Slee, Fiona L Hamilton, Elizabeth Murray. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 21.03.2018.

Publication types

Review