Stoyanov SR, Hides L, Kavanagh DJ, Wilson H. (2016). Development and validation of the user version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS). JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth. 4(2): e72. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.5849
Researchers adapted the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) to be used by end-users of mhealth applications (apps). MARS includes 23 items assessing engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information quality, and subjective quality. Researchers developed an end user version of the MARS (uMARS) by simplifying language and removing three items that require professional expertise. In the first study, researchers determined the readability of the uMARS and recruited 13 people between the ages of 16 and 25 to give readability feedback of the scale during prototype testing of two mhealth apps. Results indicated that the uMARS has a required reading level of about grade 8 and participants of the pilot test had no suggestions for improvement. Researchers then examined the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the uMARS as a part of a randomized controlled trial of a mhealth app in which participants (N=164) completed the uMARS at one, three, and six-month follow-up assessments. Researchers tested reliability using data from participants who had taken the one-month follow-up assessment and reported using the app at least once (n=133) and tested test-retest reliability between assessments at one and three months (n=113) and three and six months (n=74). The internal consistency of the uMARS was excellent (Cronbach alpha = .90). The uMARS had good test-retest reliability with interclass correlation coefficients of .66 between the one and three-month follow-ups and .70 between the three and six-month follow-ups. Results suggested that the uMARS is a usable and psychometrically strong way for users to assess mhealth apps.