Current situation and effect evaluation of mobile applications for physical activity management in China / 中华健康管理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the current situation and effect of mobile applications for physical activity management in China.Methods:In this systematic review, search terms such as “exercise”, “sports”, “exercise”, “physical activity” and “mobile health” were used to retrieve the applications for physical activity management in the IOS Application Store developed in mainland of China. Then the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) and the Behavior Change Technology (BCT) were used to evaluate the quality of the applications and analyze the behavior change technologies that applications adopted. Moreover, a systematic review of relevant experimental studies was applied to summarize the effectiveness of the applications in promoting physical activity.Results:Total of 141 applications were included in this analysis, and 58 behavior change techniques in 16 categories were applied. The most frequently used 4 categories of BCT were behavior comparison (67.4%), repetition and substitution (67.4%), knowledge construction (67.4%), feedback and monitoring (58.2%). The overall objective quality score of MARS was 3.17±0.42, of which, the score of engagements, functionality, aesthetic design and information quality was 2.67±0.73, 3.75±0.54, 3.44±0.59 and 2.83±0.55, respectively. The number of BCT adopted in each application had a linear relationship with the application′s objective quality score in MARS ( B=0.023, 95% CI 0.018-0.029) and user rating ( B=0.040, 95% CI 0.019-0.060) (both P<0.001). A total of 4 articles were included to test the effects of techniques (i.e., physical activity behavior monitoring, physical activity planning and physical activity guidance) in 4 applications. The overall quality of the literatures was good. The main outcomes were physical activity duration (3 articles) and step count (1 article). Compared with those who did not use the application or only used the accelerometer to monitor physical activity, subjects who used the application to monitor physical activity had significant longer physical activity durations and step count (both P<0.05). Conclusions:The number, function and technology of physical activity management applications in China are abundant, but the quality of the applications is moderate. The number of BCT is an important factor in evaluating application′s quality, but its effect on behavior change is still not clear.