Availability of Spanish-Language Medical Apps in Google Play and the App Store: Retrospective Descriptive Analysis...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Mobile Health (mHealth)

Background:

• Increasing number of English medical and health apps available.
• Limited knowledge on Spanish health apps and their evolution.

Purpose of the Study:

• Analyze the evolution of Spanish medical apps over a 5-year period.
• Compare Spanish medical apps using a reproducible methodology.
• Gain better knowledge of available Spanish medical apps.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective descriptive analysis of medical apps in Spanish.
• Utilized Google search tools and Google Advanced Search.
• Catalogued apps using keywords from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).
• Selected apps from Google Play and App Store, rated using the iSYScore method.

Main Results:

• 136 medical apps met inclusion criteria out of 1358.
• Top categories: endocrinology (diabetes), respiratory (COPD, asthma, allergies), and neurology (MS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's).
• Few apps (10/136) were maintained for over 3 years; 41.2% were translations.
• App updates were a key factor for discarding apps.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish health app market shows limited longevity and repetition.
• Significant differences exist compared to the international market in mental health, cardiovascular, and oncology app availability.
• High relevance of apps for diabetes control was noted, aligning with international trends.