Cargando…

Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality

BACKGROUND: Approximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and st...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Carrouel, Florence, du Sartz de Vigneulles, Benjamin, Bourgeois, Denis, Kabuth, Bernard, Baltenneck, Nicolas, Nusbaum, Fanny, Burge, Valérie, Roy, Sylvain, Buchheit, Sophie, Carrion-Martinaud, Marie-Line, Massoubre, Catherine, Fraticelli, Laurie, Dussart, Claude
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9607929/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223178
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41282
_version_ 1784818662957383680
author Carrouel, Florence
du Sartz de Vigneulles, Benjamin
Bourgeois, Denis
Kabuth, Bernard
Baltenneck, Nicolas
Nusbaum, Fanny
Burge, Valérie
Roy, Sylvain
Buchheit, Sophie
Carrion-Martinaud, Marie-Line
Massoubre, Catherine
Fraticelli, Laurie
Dussart, Claude
author_facet Carrouel, Florence
du Sartz de Vigneulles, Benjamin
Bourgeois, Denis
Kabuth, Bernard
Baltenneck, Nicolas
Nusbaum, Fanny
Burge, Valérie
Roy, Sylvain
Buchheit, Sophie
Carrion-Martinaud, Marie-Line
Massoubre, Catherine
Fraticelli, Laurie
Dussart, Claude
author_sort Carrouel, Florence
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Approximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Approximately 20,000 mental health apps are listed in mobile app stores. However, no significant evaluation of mental health apps in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has been identified in the literature yet. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to review the mental health mobile apps currently available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store and to evaluate their quality using Mobile App Rating Scale–French (MARS-F). METHODS: Screening of mental health apps was conducted from June 10, 2022, to June 17, 2022, on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A shortlist of 12 apps was identified using the criteria of selection and assessed using MARS-F by 9 mental health professionals. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate interrater agreement. Mean (SD) scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated. RESULTS: The highest scores for MARS-F quality were obtained by Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (mean 3.85, SD 0.48), Evoluno (mean 3.54, SD 0.72), and Teale (mean 3.53, SD 0.87). Mean engagement scores (section A) ranged from 2.33 (SD 0.69) for Reflexe reussite to 3.80 (SD 0.61) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean aesthetics scores (section C) ranged from 2.52 (SD 0.62) for Mental Booster to 3.89 (SD 0.69) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean information scores (section D) ranged from 2.00 (SD 0.75) for Mental Booster to 3.46 (SD 0.77) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean Mobile App Rating Scale subjective quality (section E) score varied from 1.22 (SD 0.26) for VOS – journal de l’humeur to 2.69 (SD 0.84) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean app specificity (section F) score varied from 1.56 (SD 0.97) for Mental Booster to 3.31 (SD 1.22) for Evoluno. For all the mental health apps studied, except Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (11/12, 92%), the subjective quality score was always lower than the app specificity score, which was always lower than the MARS-F quality score, and that was lower than the rating score from the iPhone Operating System or Android app stores. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health professionals assessed that, despite the lack of scientific evidence, the mental health mobile apps available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store were of good quality. However, they are reluctant to use them in their professional practice. Additional investigations are needed to assess their compliance with recommendations and their long-term impact on users.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9607929
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher JMIR Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-96079292022-10-28 Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality Carrouel, Florence du Sartz de Vigneulles, Benjamin Bourgeois, Denis Kabuth, Bernard Baltenneck, Nicolas Nusbaum, Fanny Burge, Valérie Roy, Sylvain Buchheit, Sophie Carrion-Martinaud, Marie-Line Massoubre, Catherine Fraticelli, Laurie Dussart, Claude JMIR Mhealth Uhealth Original Paper BACKGROUND: Approximately 800 million people, representing 11% of the world’s population, are affected by mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated problems and triggered a decline in well-being, with drastic increase in the incidence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress. Approximately 20,000 mental health apps are listed in mobile app stores. However, no significant evaluation of mental health apps in French, spoken by approximately 300 million people, has been identified in the literature yet. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to review the mental health mobile apps currently available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store and to evaluate their quality using Mobile App Rating Scale–French (MARS-F). METHODS: Screening of mental health apps was conducted from June 10, 2022, to June 17, 2022, on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store. A shortlist of 12 apps was identified using the criteria of selection and assessed using MARS-F by 9 mental health professionals. Intraclass correlation was used to evaluate interrater agreement. Mean (SD) scores and their distributions for each section and item were calculated. RESULTS: The highest scores for MARS-F quality were obtained by Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (mean 3.85, SD 0.48), Evoluno (mean 3.54, SD 0.72), and Teale (mean 3.53, SD 0.87). Mean engagement scores (section A) ranged from 2.33 (SD 0.69) for Reflexe reussite to 3.80 (SD 0.61) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean aesthetics scores (section C) ranged from 2.52 (SD 0.62) for Mental Booster to 3.89 (SD 0.69) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean information scores (section D) ranged from 2.00 (SD 0.75) for Mental Booster to 3.46 (SD 0.77) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean Mobile App Rating Scale subjective quality (section E) score varied from 1.22 (SD 0.26) for VOS – journal de l’humeur to 2.69 (SD 0.84) for Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa. Mean app specificity (section F) score varied from 1.56 (SD 0.97) for Mental Booster to 3.31 (SD 1.22) for Evoluno. For all the mental health apps studied, except Soutien psy avec Mon Sherpa (11/12, 92%), the subjective quality score was always lower than the app specificity score, which was always lower than the MARS-F quality score, and that was lower than the rating score from the iPhone Operating System or Android app stores. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health professionals assessed that, despite the lack of scientific evidence, the mental health mobile apps available on the French Apple App Store and Google Play Store were of good quality. However, they are reluctant to use them in their professional practice. Additional investigations are needed to assess their compliance with recommendations and their long-term impact on users. JMIR Publications 2022-10-12 /pmc/articles/PMC9607929/ /pubmed/36223178 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41282 Text en ©Florence Carrouel, Benjamin du Sartz de Vigneulles, Denis Bourgeois, Bernard Kabuth, Nicolas Baltenneck, Fanny Nusbaum, Valérie Burge, Sylvain Roy, Sophie Buchheit, Marie-Line Carrion-Martinaud, Catherine Massoubre, Laurie Fraticelli, Claude Dussart. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 12.10.2022. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Carrouel, Florence
du Sartz de Vigneulles, Benjamin
Bourgeois, Denis
Kabuth, Bernard
Baltenneck, Nicolas
Nusbaum, Fanny
Burge, Valérie
Roy, Sylvain
Buchheit, Sophie
Carrion-Martinaud, Marie-Line
Massoubre, Catherine
Fraticelli, Laurie
Dussart, Claude
Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title_full Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title_fullStr Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title_full_unstemmed Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title_short Mental Health Mobile Apps in the French App Store: Assessment Study of Functionality and Quality
title_sort mental health mobile apps in the french app store: assessment study of functionality and quality
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9607929/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36223178
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/41282
work_keys_str_mv AT carrouelflorence mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT dusartzdevigneullesbenjamin mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT bourgeoisdenis mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT kabuthbernard mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT baltennecknicolas mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT nusbaumfanny mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT burgevalerie mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT roysylvain mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT buchheitsophie mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT carrionmartinaudmarieline mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT massoubrecatherine mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT fraticellilaurie mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality
AT dussartclaude mentalhealthmobileappsinthefrenchappstoreassessmentstudyoffunctionalityandquality