French adaptation and validation of the User Version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale (uMARS-F) (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Recently, there is an increasing number of apps developed to help people to adopt correct lifestyles and to help physicians to monitor patients with chronic diseases. Nevertheless, the validity process for measuring and reporting app quality remains unsatisfactory for health professionals and end users and represents a public health concern. While the professional version of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) has already been translated, and validated into the French language, its user-centered counterpart has not yet been adapted. OBJECTIVE This study aims to translate, adapt, and validate the equivalent French version of uMARS (uMARS-F). METHODS A cross-cultural adaptation, translation, and metric evaluation were performed by native speakers and a translator. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the uMARS-F were evaluated using two mHealth app. Both apps were tested by 70 and 72 users and three months later. Paired t-test, Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICCs) and Cronbach’s Alpha were used to evaluate the reliability and validity of the uMARS-F. RESULTS We recruited 142 subjects, distributed between the two apps. All subjects answered all questions both at time 1 and at time 2. Paired t-test showed no statistically significant difference in each answer or group of answers between times 1 and 2 (P > 0.05). Cronbach’s alpha was 0.92, as all subjects answered all questions. Each question was further assessed through the Pearson correlation coefficient, which demonstrated high reliability, with significant P (<0,05) and Pearson Coefficients higher than 0,7. ICCs were higher than 0,75. CONCLUSIONS uMARS-F is a valid tool with adequate metric properties to assess the quality of health apps from the user perspective