%0 Journal Article
%@ 2561-7605
%I JMIR Publications
%V 4
%N 1
%P e23313
%T Mobile Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Search and Evaluation Within Online Stores
%A Portenhauser,Alexandra A
%A Terhorst,Yannik
%A Schultchen,Dana
%A Sander,Lasse B
%A Denkinger,Michael D
%A Stach,Michael
%A Waldherr,Natalie
%A Dallmeier,Dhayana
%A Baumeister,Harald
%A Messner,Eva-Maria
%+ Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology and Education, University of Ulm, Lise-Meitner-Str. 16, Ulm, Germany, 49 73150 32802, eva-maria.messner@uni-ulm.de
%K mHealth
%K MARS
%K MARS-G
%K older adults
%K mobile apps
%K apps
%K aging
%D 2021
%7 19.2.2021
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Aging
%G English
%X Background: Through the increasingly aging population, the health care system is confronted with various challenges such as expanding health care costs. To manage these challenges, mobile apps may represent a cost-effective and low-threshold approach to support older adults. Objective: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the quality, characteristics, as well as privacy and security measures of mobile apps for older adults in the European commercial app stores. Methods: In the European Google Play and App Store, a web crawler systematically searched for mobile apps for older adults. The identified mobile apps were evaluated by two independent reviewers using the German version of the Mobile Application Rating Scale. A correlation between the user star rating and overall rating was calculated. An exploratory regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the obligation to pay fees predicted overall quality. Results: In total, 83 of 1217 identified mobile apps were included in the analysis. Generally, the mobile apps for older adults were of moderate quality (mean 3.22 [SD 0.68]). Four mobile apps (5%) were evidence-based; 49% (41/83) had no security measures. The user star rating correlated significantly positively with the overall rating (r=.30, P=.01). Obligation to pay fees could not predict overall quality. Conclusions: There is an extensive quality range within mobile apps for older adults, indicating deficits in terms of information quality, data protection, and security precautions, as well as a lack of evidence-based approaches. Central databases are needed to identify high-quality mobile apps. 
%M 33605884
%R 10.2196/23313
%U https://aging.jmir.org/2021/1/e23313
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/23313
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33605884