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Effective? Engaging? Secure? Applying the ORCHA-24 framework to evaluate apps for chronic insomnia disorder
Simon Leigh1, Jing Ouyang2, Chris Mimnagh3
1Lifecode Solutions, Liverpool, UK.
Health app quality varies significantly. The Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications-24 (ORCHA-24) assessment tool can identify high-quality, low-risk mobile health apps for chronic insomnia disorder.
Area of Science:
- Digital health
- Mobile health applications
- Health informatics
Background:
- Mobile health (mHealth) offers potential benefits but often lacks clear data on 'side-effects' or therapeutic efficacy.
- The safety and effectiveness of mHealth apps are frequently unverified, limiting their role in treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of Android apps for chronic insomnia disorder.
- To determine if a novel assessment approach can identify high-quality, low-risk health apps without formal accreditation like National Health Service (NHS) approval.
Main Methods:
- The Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications-24 (ORCHA-24) criteria were used to assess 18 insomnia apps from the Android Google Play Store.
- Criteria included data privacy, clinical efficacy, and user experience, with evidence-based 'yes'/'no' answers.
- The NHS-approved iOS app Sleepio was included for comparison.
Main Results:
- Only 63.2% of apps had a privacy policy, and 36.8% guaranteed no data sharing without consent.
- Just 10.5% claimed clinical benefit, with cognitive behavioural therapy apps showing superior efficacy (p=0.046).
- App downloads and user reviews did not correlate with ORCHA-24 scores; Sleepio outperformed non-accredited apps.
Conclusions:
- Insomnia apps show significant variability in privacy, user experience, and efficacy standards.
- Formal accreditation is lacking, and download numbers/user reviews are poor indicators of app quality.
- The ORCHA-24 tool offers a feasible method for assessing health app risk-benefit profiles before download.
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