A systematic quality rating of available mobile health apps for borderline personality disorder

Steubl, Lena Sophia and Reimann, Josephin and Simon, Laura and Terhorst, Yannik and Stach, Michael and Baumeister, Harald and Sander, Lasse Bosse and Messner, Eva-Maria (2022) A systematic quality rating of available mobile health apps for borderline personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation . ISSN 2051-6673

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Abstract

Background Mobile health apps (MHAs) may offer a mean to overcome treatment barriers in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) mental health care. However, MHAs for BPD on the market lack transparency and quality assessment.
Methods European app stores were systematically searched, and two independent trained reviewers extracted relevant MHAs. Employed methods and privacy and security details documentation of included MHAs were extracted. MHAs were then assessed and rated using the German version of the standardized Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS-G). Mean values and standard deviations of all subscales (engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information, and therapeutic gain) and correlations with user ratings were calculated.
Results Of 2,977 identified MHAs, 16 were included, showing average quality across the four main subscales (M=3.25, SD=0.68). Shortcomings were observed with regard to engagement (M=2.87, SD = 0.99), potential therapeutic gain (M=2.67, SD=0.83), existing evidence base (25.0% of included MHAs were tested empirically), and documented privacy and security details. No significant correlations were found between user ratings and the overall total score of the MARS-G or MARS-G main subscales.
Conclusions Available MHAs for BPD vary in quality and evidence on their efficacy, effectiveness, and possible adverse events is scarce. More substantial efforts to ensure the quality of MHAs available for patients and a focus on transparency, particularly regarding privacy and security documentation, are necessary.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: BPD, Internet- and mobile-based interventions, IMIs, Treatment, Quality rating
Subjects: DBIS Research > Publications
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science > Institute of Databases and Informations Systems > DBIS Research and Teaching > DBIS Research > Publications
Depositing User: Michael Stach
Date Deposited: 14 Nov 2022 14:08
Last Modified: 14 Nov 2022 14:09
URI: http://dbis.eprints.uni-ulm.de/id/eprint/2120

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