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A review of pregnancy iPhone apps assessing their quality, inclusion of behaviour change techniques, and nutrition information
- Source :
- Matern Child Nutr
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Smartphone apps for use in pregnancy are common and could influence lifestyle behaviours, but they have not been evaluated. This review aimed to assess the quality of iPhone pregnancy apps and whether they included behaviour change techniques (BCTs) and/or pregnancy-specific nutrition information. A keyword search of the Australian iTunes app store was conducted. For inclusion, apps had to be available at no cost, in English, intended for use by pregnant women, and contain nutrition information. App quality was assessed using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). Absence or presence of BCTs was assessed using the CALO-RE taxonomy, with type of nutrition information included also reported. The initial key word search identified 607 apps, with 51 iPhone apps included in final evaluation. Mean overall MARS quality rating score was 3.05 out of 5 (1 = inadequate; 5 = excellent). The functionality subscale scored highest (mean = 3.32), and aesthetics scored lowest (mean = 2.87). Out of a possible 40 BCTs, 11 were present across the apps with a median of three BCTs (range: 0-6) identified per app. The median number of pregnancy-specific nutrition topics per app was three (range 0 to 7). Despite the availability of a large number of iPhone pregnancy apps, few are of high quality, with only a small number of BCTs used and limited inclusion of pregnancy-specific nutrition information. It is important to be aware of limitations within current pregnancy apps before recommending usage during this key life stage.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Gerontology
Behaviour change
media_common.quotation_subject
Word search
App store
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Rating scale
Pregnancy
mental disorders
Medicine
Humans
Nutrition information
Quality (business)
030212 general & internal medicine
Health Education
media_common
030109 nutrition & dietetics
Nutrition and Dietetics
business.industry
Information Dissemination
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Prenatal Care
Original Articles
medicine.disease
Mobile Applications
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Female
business
Inclusion (education)
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17408709
- Volume :
- 15
- Issue :
- 3
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Maternalchild nutrition
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....72ccf56a8ee3924ee2206cf46ed6e1e9