Quality and Presence of Behaviour Change Techniques in Mobile Apps for the Mediterranean Diet: A Content Analysis of Android Google Play and Apple App Store Apps

Daniel McAleese; Manolis Linardakis; Angeliki Papadaki

doi:10.3390/nu14061290

Quality and Presence of Behaviour Change Techniques in Mobile Apps for the Mediterranean Diet: A Content Analysis of Android Google Play and Apple App Store Apps

Nutrients. 2022 Mar 18;14(6):1290. doi: 10.3390/nu14061290.

Authors

Daniel McAleese^{1

2}, Manolis Linardakis³, Angeliki Papadaki¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TZ, UK.
² Department of Oncology, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK.
³ Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Crete, Greece.

Abstract

Smartphone apps might represent an opportunity to promote adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet). This study aimed to evaluate the quality of commercially available apps for the MedDiet and the presence of behavioural change techniques (BCTs) used by these apps. A systematic search was conducted on the Apple App and Google Play stores in November 2021. Apps were included if they provided information on the MedDiet or if their objective was to promote a healthy lifestyle through adherence to the MedDiet. Eligible apps were independently evaluated by two reviewers with regard to their quality (engagement, functionality, aesthetics and information quality) using the 5-point Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS; with higher scores indicating higher quality), and the presence of BCTs using an established 26-item BCT taxonomy. Of the 55 analysed apps, 52 (94.5%) were free, 50 (90.9%) provided recipe ideas, 29 (52.7%) provided meal plans, and 22 (40%) provided information on the health benefits of the MedDiet. The overall quality mean MARS score was 2.84 (standard deviation (SD) = 0.42), with functionality being the highest scored MARS domain (mean = 3.58, SD = 0.44) and engagement the lowest (mean = 2.29, SD = 0.61). The average number of BCTs in the analysed apps was 2.3 (SD = 1.4; range: 0-6 per app). The number of BCTs was positively correlated with app information quality (r_rho = 0.269, p = 0.047), overall MARS score (r_rho = 0.267, p = 0.049), app subjective quality (r_rho = 0.326, p = 0.015) and app-specific quality (r_rho = 0.351, p = 0.009). These findings suggest that currently available apps might provide information on the MedDiet, but the incorporation of more BCTs is warranted to maximise the potential for behaviour change towards the MedDiet.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; behaviour change techniques; content analysis; mobile apps; mobile health (mHealth); quality; smartphone.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Behavior Therapy / methods
Diet, Mediterranean*
Mobile Applications*
Search Engine