mHealth Apps for Cancer Survivors Are not Effective as they Sould be

Mobile health apps developed for cancer survivors are not the meeting the requirements, in accordance to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California.

A 2016 analysis of dozens of mHealth apps by researchers from CPIC and Stanford University discovered that some “executed empowerment elements, underwent rigorous design approaches or included assessment of use in the cancer survivor population.” The analysis was reflected in the March 24 issue of the Journal for Cancer Survivorship.

“This diminishes the worth for the cancer survivor population but could be conveniently dealt through standardized development and testing processes,” Sharon Watkins Davis of CPIC and Ingrid Oakley-Girvan, of the Stanford Cancer Institute and Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, summarized.

mHealth apps for cancer survivors are an increasing niche in the digital health space, giving online resources for physical and mental health problems, information on side effects, medication adherence and care management information and tools to trace activity, exercise, diet and nutrition, even moods.

With somewhere between 350,000 and 300,000 mHealth apps now available in key app stores, the issue for both healthcare providers and consumers lies in finding the app that works best for them. Clinicians have been historically reluctant to accept or suggest apps that they do not trust, and attempts to curate and evaluate apps are merely now gaining momentum.

Previous summer, a study out of the University of California at San Francisco discovered that few of the most famous mHealth apps are failing because they are too complex to use. Other studies have pointed to uncertainties about privacy and security.

Watkins Davis and Oakley-Girvan say the apps they’re studied were not planned out rightly.

In their research, Watkins Davis and Oakley-Girvan say companies developed apps for cancer survivors are skipping developmental and testing steps in case to rush their product to market – involving collaborating with cancer survivors. They end up missing or overlooking aspects of an app that could prove injurious to cancer survivors or make the app unattractive.

They suggest app developers follow these guidelines:

• Conduct a needs assessment with cancer survivors and healthcare practitioners;


• Include healthcare practitioners and staff throughout the app development procedure;


• Give potential users with a chance to verify the user interface;


• Tailor apps to survivors’ treatment history, stage of readiness to change, exercise ability, age, cognitive capabilities and individual health aims;


• Plan for suitable infrastructure involving IT support, secure data transmission protocols, adequate bandwidth to decrease or eradicate downtime and adoption of legal and privacy requirements like HIPAA; and


• Measure impact over a longer period of time.

“There is huge potential for mobile health apps to make better the long-term health results among cancer survivors, but the field of mobile health research is in its infancy,” Lorene Nelson, an associate professor of health research and policy at the institute of Stanford University School of Medicine, claimed in a press release released by CPIC after the study was issued.