TY  - JOUR
AU  - Najm, Aurélie
AU  - Gossec, Laure
AU  - Weill, Catherine
AU  - Benoist, David
AU  - Berenbaum, Francis
AU  - Nikiphorou, Elena
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/26
TI  - Mobile Health Apps for Self-Management of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Systematic Literature Review
JO  - JMIR Mhealth Uhealth
SP  - e14730
VL  - 7
IS  - 11
KW  - mobile health
KW  - self-management
KW  - arthritis
KW  - telemedicine
KW  - musculoskeletal diseases
AB  - 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. 
SN  - 2291-5222
UR  - https://mhealth.jmir.org/2019/11/e14730
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/14730
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31769758
DO  - 10.2196/14730
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/14730
ER  -