Mobile Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within Online Stores

Alexandra A Portenhauser; Yannik Terhorst; Dana Schultchen; Lasse B Sander; Michael D Denkinger; Michael Stach; Natalie Waldherr; Dhayana Dallmeier; Harald Baumeister; Eva-Maria Messner

doi:10.2196/23313

Mobile Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within Online Stores

JMIR Aging. 2021 Feb 19;4(1):e23313. doi: 10.2196/23313.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
² Department of Psychological Research Methods, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
³ Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
⁴ Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
⁵ Agaplesion Bethesda Clinic, Geriatric Research, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Databases and Information Systems, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.

PMID: 33605884
PMCID: PMC8081158
DOI: 10.2196/23313

Abstract

Background: Through the increasingly aging population, the health care system is confronted with various challenges such as expanding health care costs. To manage these challenges, mobile apps may represent a cost-effective and low-threshold approach to support older adults.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the quality, characteristics, as well as privacy and security measures of mobile apps for older adults in the European commercial app stores.

Methods: In the European Google Play and App Store, a web crawler systematically searched for mobile apps for older adults. The identified mobile apps were evaluated by two independent reviewers using the German version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale. A correlation between the user star rating and overall rating was calculated. An exploratory regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the obligation to pay fees predicted overall quality.

Results: In total, 83 of 1217 identified mobile apps were included in the analysis. Generally, the mobile apps for older adults were of moderate quality (mean 3.22 [SD 0.68]). Four mobile apps (5%) were evidence-based; 49% (41/83) had no security measures. The user star rating correlated significantly positively with the overall rating (r=.30, P=.01). Obligation to pay fees could not predict overall quality.

Conclusions: There is an extensive quality range within mobile apps for older adults, indicating deficits in terms of information quality, data protection, and security precautions, as well as a lack of evidence-based approaches. Central databases are needed to identify high-quality mobile apps.

Keywords: MARS; MARS-G; aging; apps; mHealth; mobile apps; older adults.

©Alexandra A Portenhauser, Yannik Terhorst, Dana Schultchen, Lasse B Sander, Michael D Denkinger, Michael Stach, Natalie Waldherr, Dhayana Dallmeier, Harald Baumeister, Eva-Maria Messner. Originally published in JMIR Aging (http://aging.jmir.org), 19.02.2021.