Methods to Measure the Impact of mHealth Applications: Preliminary Results of a Scoping Review

Abstract

Important requirements for mHealth, the availability of devices and network connectivity have dramatically improved in the past years globally. mHealth applications are being developed at a rapid pace. But a thorough impact assessment is not routinely performed. We performed a scoping review to compile an overview of evaluation methods used to assess mHealth applications. Preliminary results are reported here, and a full scoping review is in preparation. Qualitative measurement of user experience is common. A number of studies measured the impact of the mHealth intervention on clinical outcomes. Few measured usability and end-user experience. Assessment of the impact on treatment process was rare and evaluations of cost and cost-effectiveness analyses are rarely ever done. An evaluation framework for mHealth interventions that includes disease-appropriate clinical outcome measures, use experience measure but also an economic component in form of cost comparison of the intervention with the standard of care should be developed.

Keywords: evaluation methods; impact assessment; mHealth.