Kao C-K, Liebovitz DM. (2017). Consumer mobile health apps: Current state, barriers, and future directions. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 9(5): s106-s115. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2017.02.018
In this discussion paper, the authors describe the current state of commercially available mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps), including barriers to, and future directions for, use of mHealth apps in clinical practice. The abundance of mHealth apps available for consumers in mobile marketplaces largely focus on wellness management, disease management (including mental health), self-diagnosis, medication reminders, electronic patient portals, and physical health and rehabilitation. Despite promising evidence for consumer mHealth applications, further research is needed to demonstrate efficacy and identify effective features of mHealth apps. Of the mental health apps and wellness management apps available in market places, few use evidence-based principles. Barriers discussed include a need for regulation of mHealth applications, further research demonstrating the efficacy of mHealth apps, and improved privacy and security of apps. Past attempts to aggregate vetted mHealth apps into databases to improve accessibility have been unsuccessful. The authors conclude that, despite the described barriers, there is great potential for clinical use of mHealth apps through integration of apps into health care systems, electronic health records, and cloud-based personal health networks that make health information derived from mobile and clinical sources available to patients.