Smartphone Applications to Support Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment: Review and Evaluation.
Smartphone Applications to Support Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment: Review and Evaluation.
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DOI：
10.2196/mhealth.5022
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发表时间：
2016-05-13
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
Carballo-Diéguez A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Iribarren SJ;Schnall R;Stone PW;Carballo-Diéguez A
结核病（TB）仍然是一个主要的全球健康问题，并且是由于单一传染病而导致的主要杀手。已建议将智能手机应用程序等基于移动的健康（mHealth）的工具作为支持结核病控制工作的工具（例如，识别、接触者追踪、病例管理，包括患者支持）。本综述旨在识别和评估专注于预防和治疗结核病的移动的应用程序的功能。我们搜索了3个在线移动的应用商店。如果应用程序专注于结核病，并且是英语，西班牙语或葡萄牙语的，则包括在内。对于每个包含的应用程序，评估了11项功能（例如，通知、指示、记录），并进行搜索以识别对可用应用程序进行严格测试的同行评审出版物。总共确定了1332个潜在相关的应用程序，其中24个符合我们的纳入标准。所有的应用程序都可以免费下载，但有7个需要登录和密码，并且是为特定的诊所、区域研究中心或研究开发的。目标用户主要是临床医生（n=17）;少数（n=4）应用程序以患者为中心。大多数应用程序（n=17）具有11个功能中的4个或更少功能（范围1-6）。最常见的功能是通知和记录（n=15）。虽然许多应用程序被确定具有支持TB工作的各种功能，但有些应用程序存在拼写和语法错误、数据输入响应不一致、崩溃问题或指向没有数据的功能的链接等问题。更令人担忧的是，一些应用程序向患者提供了潜在的有害信息，例如结核病的自然疗法和自然治疗师的链接。三分之一的应用程序（8/24）已经超过一年没有更新，可能不再支持。仅识别出两个纳入应用程序的同行评审出版物。在灰色文献中（在应用程序商店中找不到），三个结核病相关的应用程序被确定为正在进行中，正在发布或正在测试。确定用于结核病预防和治疗的应用程序功能最少，主要针对一线医护人员，并侧重于结核病信息（例如，一般信息，指南和新闻）或数据收集（例如，取代纸质通知或跟踪）。开发的应用程序很少供患者使用，也没有开发用于支持结核病患者参与和管理其护理（例如，随访警报/提醒，副作用监测）或改善与其医疗保健提供者的互动，限制了这些应用程序促进以患者为中心的护理的潜力。我们的评估表明，在应用程序领域需要做更精细的工作，以支持活动性结核病患者。建议在设计这些应用程序时让结核病患者参与治疗。
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem and is the leading killer due to a single infectious disease. Mobile health (mHealth)–based tools such as smartphone apps have been suggested as tools to support TB control efforts (eg, identification, contact tracing, case management including patient support). The purpose of this review was to identify and assess the functionalities of mobile apps focused on prevention and treatment of TB. We searched 3 online mobile app stores. Apps were included if they were focused on TB and were in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. For each included app, 11 functionalities were assessed (eg, inform, instruct, record), and searches were conducted to identify peer-review publications of rigorous testing of the available apps. A total of 1332 potentially relevant apps were identified, with 24 meeting our inclusion criteria. All of the apps were free to download, but 7 required login and password and were developed for specific clinics, regional sites, or research studies. Targeted users were mainly clinicians (n=17); few (n=4) apps were patient focused. Most apps (n=17) had 4 or fewer functions out of 11 (range 1-6). The most common functionalities were inform and record (n=15). Although a number of apps were identified with various functionalities to support TB efforts, some had issues such as incorrect spelling and grammar, inconsistent responses to data entry, problems with crashing, or links to features that had no data. Of more concern, some apps provided potentially harmful information to patients, such as links to natural remedies for TB and natural healers. One-third of the apps (8/24) had not been updated for more than a year and may no longer be supported. Peer-reviewed publications were identified for only two of the included apps. In the gray literature (not found in the app stores), three TB-related apps were identified as in progress, being launched, or tested. Apps identified for TB prevention and treatment had minimal functionality, primarily targeted frontline health care workers, and focused on TB information (eg, general information, guidelines, and news) or data collection (eg, replace paper-based notification or tracking). Few apps were developed for use by patients and none were developed to support TB patient involvement and management in their care (eg, follow-up alerts/reminders, side effects monitoring) or improve interaction with their health care providers, limiting the potential of these apps to facilitate patient-centered care. Our evaluation shows that more refined work is needed to be done in the area of apps to support patients with active TB. Involving TB patients in treatment in the design of these apps is recommended.