Mobile phone applications for diabetes management: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Mobile Health (mHealth)
• Diabetes Management Technology

Background:

• The proliferation of health-related mobile applications extends to diabetes mellitus (DM).
• Assessing the landscape of free, Spanish-language diabetes management apps in the Spanish market is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality and usability of free mobile applications for diabetes management available in Spanish.
• To identify and rank the top-performing apps based on defined criteria.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of free Spanish-language diabetes apps on Google Play (Android) and App Store (iOS).
• Evaluation of main functions, quality features, and usability of identified apps.
• Scoring and ranking of apps to create a top list.

Main Results:

• Out of 794 apps, 42 underwent quality assessment and 34 usability assessment.
• The primary function identified was blood glucose diary keeping (71.43%).
• Few apps (7.1%) were evidence-based or had quality labels; most (78.6%) accessed personal data.

Conclusions:

• The availability of free Spanish-language diabetes management apps is limited.
• Most apps lack quality certification and scientific validation.
• Privacy is a concern, as a majority of apps access user data without clear evidence-based foundations.