Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis

Alice  Pearsons; Coral L  Hanson; Robyn Gallagher; Ronan E  O’Carroll; Sahar  Khonsari; Janet  Hanley; Fiona E  Strachan; Nicholas L. Mills; Terence J. Quinn; Brian Mckinstry; Sheona  McHale; Stacey  Stewart; Mengying  Zhang; Siobhán O'Connor; Lis  Neubeck

doi:10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis

Alice Pearsons, Coral L Hanson, Robyn Gallagher, Ronan E O’Carroll, Sahar Khonsari, Janet Hanley, Fiona E Strachan, Nicholas L. Mills, Terence J. Quinn, Brian Mckinstry, Sheona McHale, Stacey Stewart, Mengying Zhang, Siobhán O'Connor, Lis Neubeck

Digital Health & Applied Tech Assessment

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects over 1.4 million people in the UK, resulting in a five-fold increased stroke risk and a three to four times greater risk of severe, disabling stroke. Atrial fibrillation, a chronic disease, requires monitoring, medication, and lifestyle measures. A self-management approach supported by mobile health (mHealth) may empower AF self-care. To assess the need to develop new mHealth self-management interventions for those with AF this review aimed to identify commercially available AF self-management apps, analyse, and synthesize (i) characteristics, (ii) functions, (iii) privacy/security, (iv) incorporated behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and (v) quality and usability. We searched app stores for ‘atrial fibrillation’ and ‘anticoagulation’, and included apps focused on AF self-management in the review. We examined app functions, privacy statements against best practice recommendations, the inclusion of BCTs using the App Behaviour Change Scale, and app quality/usability using the Mobile App Rating Scale. From an initial search of 555 apps, five apps were included in the review. Common functions were educational content, medication trackers, and communication with healthcare professionals. Apps contained limited BCTs, lacked intuitive functions and were difficult to use. Privacy policies were difficult to read. App quality rated from poor to acceptable and no app had been evaluated in a clinical trial. The review reports a lack of commercially available AF self-management apps of sufficient standard for use in healthcare settings. This highlights the need for clinically validated mHealth interventions incorporating evidence-based BCTs to support AF self-management.

Original language	English
Journal	European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology
Volume	zvaa014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014
Publication status	Published - 2020

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10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

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Pearsons, A., Hanson, C. L., Gallagher, R., O’Carroll, R. E., Khonsari, S., Hanley, J., Strachan, F. E., Mills, N. L., Quinn, T. J., Mckinstry, B., McHale, S., Stewart, S., Zhang, M., O'Connor, S., & Neubeck, L. (2020). Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis. European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, zvaa014. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

@article{418dace358444f49a2c2968e8fd2a8fd,

title = "Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis",

abstract = "Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects over 1.4 million people in the UK, resulting in a five-fold increased stroke risk and a three to four times greater risk of severe, disabling stroke. Atrial fibrillation, a chronic disease, requires monitoring, medication, and lifestyle measures. A self-management approach supported by mobile health (mHealth) may empower AF self-care. To assess the need to develop new mHealth self-management interventions for those with AF this review aimed to identify commercially available AF self-management apps, analyse, and synthesize (i) characteristics, (ii) functions, (iii) privacy/security, (iv) incorporated behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and (v) quality and usability. We searched app stores for {\textquoteleft}atrial fibrillation{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}anticoagulation{\textquoteright}, and included apps focused on AF self-management in the review. We examined app functions, privacy statements against best practice recommendations, the inclusion of BCTs using the App Behaviour Change Scale, and app quality/usability using the Mobile App Rating Scale. From an initial search of 555 apps, five apps were included in the review. Common functions were educational content, medication trackers, and communication with healthcare professionals. Apps contained limited BCTs, lacked intuitive functions and were difficult to use. Privacy policies were difficult to read. App quality rated from poor to acceptable and no app had been evaluated in a clinical trial. The review reports a lack of commercially available AF self-management apps of sufficient standard for use in healthcare settings. This highlights the need for clinically validated mHealth interventions incorporating evidence-based BCTs to support AF self-management.",

author = "Alice Pearsons and Hanson, {Coral L} and Robyn Gallagher and O{\textquoteright}Carroll, {Ronan E} and Sahar Khonsari and Janet Hanley and Strachan, {Fiona E} and Mills, {Nicholas L.} and Quinn, {Terence J.} and Brian Mckinstry and Sheona McHale and Stacey Stewart and Mengying Zhang and Siobh{\'a}n O'Connor and Lis Neubeck",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014",

language = "English",

volume = "zvaa014",

journal = "European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology",

issn = "1474-5151",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

Pearsons, A, Hanson, CL, Gallagher, R, O’Carroll, RE, Khonsari, S, Hanley, J, Strachan, FE, Mills, NL, Quinn, TJ, Mckinstry, B, McHale, S, Stewart, S, Zhang, M, O'Connor, S & Neubeck, L 2020, 'Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis', European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, vol. zvaa014. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis. / Pearsons, Alice ; Hanson, Coral L ; Gallagher, Robyn et al.
In: European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology, Vol. zvaa014, 2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis

AU - Pearsons, Alice

AU - Hanson, Coral L

AU - Gallagher, Robyn

AU - O’Carroll, Ronan E

AU - Khonsari, Sahar

AU - Hanley, Janet

AU - Strachan, Fiona E

AU - Mills, Nicholas L.

AU - Quinn, Terence J.

AU - Mckinstry, Brian

AU - McHale, Sheona

AU - Stewart, Stacey

AU - Zhang, Mengying

AU - O'Connor, Siobhán

AU - Neubeck, Lis

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects over 1.4 million people in the UK, resulting in a five-fold increased stroke risk and a three to four times greater risk of severe, disabling stroke. Atrial fibrillation, a chronic disease, requires monitoring, medication, and lifestyle measures. A self-management approach supported by mobile health (mHealth) may empower AF self-care. To assess the need to develop new mHealth self-management interventions for those with AF this review aimed to identify commercially available AF self-management apps, analyse, and synthesize (i) characteristics, (ii) functions, (iii) privacy/security, (iv) incorporated behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and (v) quality and usability. We searched app stores for ‘atrial fibrillation’ and ‘anticoagulation’, and included apps focused on AF self-management in the review. We examined app functions, privacy statements against best practice recommendations, the inclusion of BCTs using the App Behaviour Change Scale, and app quality/usability using the Mobile App Rating Scale. From an initial search of 555 apps, five apps were included in the review. Common functions were educational content, medication trackers, and communication with healthcare professionals. Apps contained limited BCTs, lacked intuitive functions and were difficult to use. Privacy policies were difficult to read. App quality rated from poor to acceptable and no app had been evaluated in a clinical trial. The review reports a lack of commercially available AF self-management apps of sufficient standard for use in healthcare settings. This highlights the need for clinically validated mHealth interventions incorporating evidence-based BCTs to support AF self-management.

AB - Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects over 1.4 million people in the UK, resulting in a five-fold increased stroke risk and a three to four times greater risk of severe, disabling stroke. Atrial fibrillation, a chronic disease, requires monitoring, medication, and lifestyle measures. A self-management approach supported by mobile health (mHealth) may empower AF self-care. To assess the need to develop new mHealth self-management interventions for those with AF this review aimed to identify commercially available AF self-management apps, analyse, and synthesize (i) characteristics, (ii) functions, (iii) privacy/security, (iv) incorporated behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and (v) quality and usability. We searched app stores for ‘atrial fibrillation’ and ‘anticoagulation’, and included apps focused on AF self-management in the review. We examined app functions, privacy statements against best practice recommendations, the inclusion of BCTs using the App Behaviour Change Scale, and app quality/usability using the Mobile App Rating Scale. From an initial search of 555 apps, five apps were included in the review. Common functions were educational content, medication trackers, and communication with healthcare professionals. Apps contained limited BCTs, lacked intuitive functions and were difficult to use. Privacy policies were difficult to read. App quality rated from poor to acceptable and no app had been evaluated in a clinical trial. The review reports a lack of commercially available AF self-management apps of sufficient standard for use in healthcare settings. This highlights the need for clinically validated mHealth interventions incorporating evidence-based BCTs to support AF self-management.

U2 - 10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

DO - 10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa014

M3 - Article

SN - 1474-5151

VL - zvaa014

JO - European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology

JF - European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of Cardiology

ER -

Atrial fibrillation self-management: a mobile telephone app scoping review and content analysis

Abstract

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