Evaluation of Android and Apple Store Depression Applications Based on Mobile Application Rating Scale

Area of Science:

• Digital health
• Mental health technology
• Mobile health (mHealth) applications

Background:

• Numerous mobile applications exist for health monitoring, yet their quality is often subjectively assessed by users.
• A lack of standardized evaluation criteria hinders the assessment of mobile health application quality, particularly for mental health conditions.
• Depression management apps are increasingly prevalent, necessitating objective quality assessments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically evaluate the quality of mobile applications designed for depression symptom monitoring and management.
• To analyze depression-related mobile applications using the established Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS).

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search for depression management apps was conducted across the Apple App Store and Android Play Store in Spain and the UK.
• Two independent reviewers utilized a blind methodology to assess 30 selected applications (18 Android, 12 iOS) between September and October 2019.
• The Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS), with scores from 1 (inadequate) to 5 (excellent), was employed for quality evaluation.

Main Results:

• The overall average quality score for the evaluated depression applications was 3.67 ± 0.53 on the MARS scale.
• The 'Functionality' (4.51) and 'Esthetics' (3.98) sections received the highest average scores.
• The 'Application Subjective Quality' (2.86) and 'Information' (3.08) sections scored the lowest, indicating areas for improvement.

Conclusions:

• Mobile Health applications for depression management hold significant potential for user health impact.
• Current mobile applications for depression enter the market without rigorous health-specific quality control.
• Standardized evaluation tools like MARS are crucial for assessing and improving the quality of mental health applications.