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Investigating Popular Mental Health Mobile Application Downloads and Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ( IF 3.3 ) Pub Date : 2021-03-07 , DOI: 10.1177/0018720821998110
Xiaomei Wang 1 , Carl Markert 1 , Farzan Sasangohar 1, 2
Affiliation  

Objective

This article analyzes the changes in downloads and activity of users of select popular mental health mobile applications (mHealth apps) during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Background

The outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis has shown a negative impact on public mental health. Mobile health has the potential to help address the psychological needs of existing and new patients during the pandemic and beyond.

Method

Downloads data of 16 widely used apps were analyzed. The quality of apps was reviewed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) framework. Correlation analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between app quality and app popularity.

Results

Among the 16 apps, 10 were meditational in nature, 13 showed increased downloads, with 11 apps showing above 10% increase in the downloads after the pandemic started. The popular apps were satisfactory in terms of functionality and esthetics but lacked clinical grounding and evidence base. There exists a gap between app quality and app popularity.

Conclusion

This study provided evidence for increased downloads of mental mHealth apps (primarily meditation apps) during the COVID-19 pandemic but revealed several gaps and opportunities to address deficiencies in evidence-based design, usability and effective assessment, and integration into current workflows.

Application

The COVID-19 pandemic is a potential turning point for mHealth applications for mental health care. Whereas the evidence suggests a need for alternative delivery of care, human factors and ergonomics methods should be utilized to ensure these tools are user-centered, easy to use, evidence-based, well-integrated with professional care, and used sustainably.



中文翻译:

调查 COVID-19 大流行期间流行的心理健康移动应用程序下载和活动

客观的

本文分析了 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 期间某些流行的心理健康移动应用程序(mHealth 应用程序)用户的下载量和活动变化。

背景

COVID-19 危机的爆发对公众心理健康产生了负面影响。移动医疗有可能帮助解决大流行期间及以后现有和新患者的心理需求。

方法

分析了 16 个广泛使用的应用程序的下载数据。使用移动应用程序评级量表 (MARS) 框架审查应用程序的质量。进行相关性分析以调查应用程序质量和应用程序受欢迎程度之间的关系。

结果

在这 16 个应用程序中,10 个具有冥想性质,13 个应用程序显示下载量增加,11 个应用程序在大流行开始后下载量增加了 10% 以上。流行的应用程序在功能和美观方面令人满意,但缺乏临床基础和证据基础。应用质量和​​应用受欢迎程度之间存在差距。

结论

这项研究为在 COVID-19 大流行期间心理移动健康应用程序(主要是冥想应用程序)的下载量增加提供了证据,但揭示了一些差距和机会来解决基于证据的设计、可用性和有效评估以及集成到当前工作流程中的缺陷。

应用

COVID-19 大流行是 mHealth 应用于精神卫生保健的潜在转折点。尽管有证据表明需要提供替代护理,但应利用人为因素和人体工程学方法来确保这些工具以用户为中心、易于使用、以证据为基础、与专业护理良好结合并可持续使用。

更新日期:2021-03-07
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