@Article{info:doi/10.2196/14730,
author="Najm, Aur{\'e}lie
and Gossec, Laure
and Weill, Catherine
and Benoist, David
and Berenbaum, Francis
and Nikiphorou, Elena",
title="Mobile Health Apps for Self-Management of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Systematic Literature Review",
journal="JMIR Mhealth Uhealth",
year="2019",
month="Nov",
day="26",
volume="7",
number="11",
pages="e14730",
keywords="mobile health; self-management; arthritis; telemedicine; musculoskeletal diseases",
abstract="Background: Although the increasing availability of mobile health (mHealth) apps may enable people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) to better self-manage their health, there is a general lack of evidence on ways to ensure appropriate development and evaluation of apps. Objective: This study aimed to obtain an overview on existing mHealth apps for self-management in patients with RMDs, focusing on content and development methods. Methods: A search was performed up to December 2017 across 5 databases. For each publication relevant to an app for RMDs, information on the disease, purpose, content, and development strategies was extracted and qualitatively assessed. Results: Of 562 abstracts, 32 were included in the analysis. Of these 32 abstracts, 11 (34{\%}) referred to an app linked to a connected device. Most of the apps targeted rheumatoid arthritis (11/32, 34{\%}). The top three aspects addressed by the apps were pain (23/32, 71{\%}), fatigue (15/32, 47{\%}), and physical activity (15/32, 47{\%}). The development process of the apps was described in 84{\%} (27/32) of the articles and was of low to moderate quality in most of the cases. Despite most of the articles having been published within the past two years, only 5 apps were still commercially available at the time of our search. Moreover, only very few studies showed improvement of RMD outcome measures. Conclusions: The development process of most apps was of low or moderate quality in many studies. Owing to the increasing RMD patients' willingness to use mHealth apps for self-management, optimal standards and quality assurance of new apps are mandatory. ",
issn="2291-5222",
doi="10.2196/14730",
url="https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/11/e14730",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/14730",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31769758"
}