Background

Urinary incontinence (UI) is a serious condition for which often times insufficient non-surgical treatment options are provided or sought. Mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) offer potential to assist with the self-management of UI.

Objective

To perform a systematic review of available mHealth apps for UI in Brazil.

Methods

A search for UI mHealth apps from the Google Play Store and AppStore in Brazil was performed by two independent reviewers on June 4 2020, and the quality of eligible mHealth apps was assessed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS).

Results

Of the 1111 mHealth apps found, 12 were eligible for inclusion. Four offered exclusively exercise programs, six offered exercise and educational content, and two offered tools to track patient-reported symptoms. The included apps scored poorly on the MARS quality scale, with a mean ± standard deviation score of 2.7 ± 0.6 on a 0–5 scale. Most apps scored poorly based on credibility, user interface and experience, and engagement.

Conclusion

Although there is growing interest in the development of mHealth technologies to support patients with UI, currently available tools in Brazil are of poor quality and limited functionality. Effective collaboration between industry and research is needed to develop new user-centered mHealth apps that can empower patients with UI.

中文翻译：

---

用于治疗尿失禁的移动健康技术：对巴西在线商店的系统评价

背景

尿失禁 (UI) 是一种严重的疾病，经常无法提供或寻求足够的非手术治疗方案。移动健康 (mHealth) 应用程序 (app) 提供了协助用户界面自我管理的潜力。

客观的

对巴西用户界面可用的移动健康应用程序进行系统审查。

方法

2020 年 6 月 4 日，两名独立审核员在巴西的 Google Play 商店和 AppStore 中搜索了 UI 移动医疗应用，并使用移动应用评级量表 (MARS) 评估了符合条件的移动医疗应用的质量。

结果

在发现的 1111 款移动医疗应用中，有 12 款符合纳入条件。四个提供专门的锻炼计划，六个提供锻炼和教育内容，两个提供跟踪患者报告症状的工具。所包含的应用程序在 MARS 质量量表上的得分很差，在 0-5 量表上的平均 ± 标准差得分为 2.7 ± 0.6。大多数应用在可信度、用户界面和体验以及参与度方面得分都很低。

结论

尽管人们对开发移动医疗技术以支持 UI 患者的兴趣日益浓厚，但巴西目前可用的工具质量差且功能有限。需要行业和研究之间的有效合作来开发新的以用户为中心的移动医疗应用程序，这些应用程序可以为患者提供 UI。