The need for quality assurance of health apps

With patients and healthcare professionals increasingly using health apps, Armstrong's article is timely. 1 At the Academic Unit of Primary Medical Care in Sheffield we examined quality assurance for health behaviour change apps by adapting the 2014 NICE behaviour change guidance. 2 We identified nine areas that are important to consider when examining the quality of such apps-purpose, planning and development, usability, assessment and tailoring, behaviour change technique, maintenance and relapse, evaluation, documentation, and data protection. 3 Behaviour change apps from the now closed NHS apps library were clear in terms of purpose, but few showed evidence of thorough planning and development or of addressing how behavioural changes could be maintained. There was little focus on usability, and evidence for the evaluation of app efficacy was poor. Documentation varied, and only a minority showed evidence of initial assessment and tailoring.