Clinician-Targeted Mobile Apps in Palliative Care: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: The availability of smartphone applications has increased rapidly including applications related to palliative care. The scope of these available apps has not been synthesized.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify and review available palliative care-related smartphone applications for clinicians.

Design: Smartphone application platform stores, for example, App Store iOS, Google Play Store, Windows App-Microsoft Store, and Blackberry World App store were searched (December 2016) using relevant key words.

Results: Forty-six palliative care applications targeting clinicians were identified, including clinical guidelines (n = 17), advance care planning (n = 9), training materials in palliative care (n = 7), and pharmaceutical tools (n = 7), and platforms for distributing current palliative care news, articles, and opinions (n = 6). The majority of the applications were free and available in English. The most common platforms were Android and iOS.

Conclusions: The number of palliative care apps targeting clinicians has increased dramatically for the past five years. However, many apps did not report adequate information to judge the evidence upon which the apps were based.

Keywords: clinicians; information technology; mobile application; palliative care; smartphone; trends.