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Beyond the interface: benchmarking pediatric mobile health applications for monitoring child growth using the Mobile
Anggi Septia Irawan1, Arie Dwi Alristina2,3, Rizky Dzariyani Laili3
1Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
Insights
Quality assessment of pediatric mobile health (mHealth) apps in Indonesia revealed significant variability. While functionality was high, engagement and information quality need improvement for better child health support.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Pediatric Health
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Mobile health (mHealth) applications are increasingly used in Indonesia for pediatric care.
- Assessing the quality and usability of these applications is crucial for parents and healthcare professionals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the quality of pediatric mHealth applications in Indonesia.
- To assess their effectiveness in supporting child growth monitoring and providing educational resources.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving a systematic search of Indonesian app stores.
- Quality assessment of nine selected pediatric mHealth applications using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) by five healthcare professionals.
- Analysis of application features, including growth tracking, educational content, community support, and feedback mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Seven out of nine applications (77.78%) focused on growth tracking and education.
- Less than half offered community features (44.44%) or personalized guidance (33.33%).
- Applications showed high functionality and aesthetics but varied in engagement, information quality, and perceived value.
Conclusions:
- There is a need for higher-quality, evidence-based mHealth apps for pediatric care in Indonesia.
- Improvements in user engagement, feedback mechanisms, and accessibility are essential.
- Future development should focus on enhancing the overall quality and usability of these vital tools.
Introduction:
As mHealth applications become increasingly adopted in Indonesia, it is crucial to assess their quality and usability for parents and healthcare professionals.
Aim:
This study evaluated the quality of pediatric-related mobile health (mHealth) applications available in Indonesia, focusing on their ability to support child growth monitoring and provide educational resources for parents and caregivers.
Methodology:
This is a cross-sectional study. From December 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025 we conducted systematic search for pediatric mHealth applications in Indonesian Google Play Store and Apple App Store using predetermined keywords. Inclusion criteria required the applications to be available in Bahasa Indonesia, focus on child health, and include growth tracking or stunting prevention features. We excluded applications that were not functioning during the testing period. Quality assessment was conducted by five healthcare professionals using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). MARS assessed applications from multiple domains, including engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information quality. Inter-rater reliability was ensured using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and T-tests. A p-value of <0.05 is considered to be statistically significant.
Findings:
Nine applications were included in this study. Seven of the applications (77.78%) focused on tracking child growth and development and providing educational content. Less than half of the apps had built-in community features that enabled social support (n = 4, 44.44%) and features for feedback mechanisms & personalized guidance (n = 3, 33.33%) respectively. The majority were developed by commercial companies (n = 7, 77.78%). Quality assessment found significant variability across the apps, with high functionality and aesthetics scores but more variability in the domains of app engagement, quality of information, and subjective quality or perceived value.
Conclusion:
This research underscored the need for the development of higher-quality, evidence-based mHealth apps for pediatric care in Indonesia, particularly in improving user engagement, feedback mechanisms and accessibility.
