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Usability of Mobile Health Apps from the Patient Perspective: A Systematic Review
Pietro Bosoni1, Giovanni Gasparini1, Samuele Pe1
1Dept of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, University of Pavia, Italy.
Studies in Health Technology and Informatics
|May 23, 2026
Summary
Mobile Health (mHealth) apps are generally usable by patients, according to a systematic review. Future research should focus on mHealth-specific measures and transparent reporting for better app design.
Area of Science:
- Digital Health
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Health Informatics
Background:
- Mobile Health (mHealth) applications are increasingly utilized for patient care support.
- Evidence regarding patient-focused usability of mHealth apps is currently fragmented.
- A systematic review was performed to consolidate existing usability data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and synthesize evidence on mHealth app usability from the patient's perspective.
- To identify common usability assessment methods and their prevalence.
- To evaluate the overall usability of mHealth apps based on patient feedback.
Main Methods:
- A systematic review of studies published between January 2012 and September 2025 was conducted.
- Databases searched included PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and Scopus.
- Studies were included if they assessed usability from the patient perspective using standardized questionnaires or structured interviews, resulting in 146 eligible studies.
Main Results:
- The review encompassed 146 studies across 15 disease categories, with mental health, neurology, metabolic/endocrine, and oncology being most common.
- Twenty-four distinct usability assessment methods were identified, with most studies employing a single method.
- The System Usability Scale (SUS) was the most frequently used standardized instrument (50 studies), yielding a mean SUS score of 76.37, exceeding the acceptability benchmark of 68.
Conclusions:
- mHealth apps are generally perceived as usable by patients.
- Future research should prioritize the development and adoption of mHealth-specific standardized usability measures.
- Larger sample sizes and transparent reporting of methods are recommended to facilitate benchmarking and improve mHealth app design.
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