Qualitative assessment of atopic dermatitis-related mobile applications in Korea.
10.4168/aard.2014.2.5.370
- Author:
Dahee JIN
1
;
Tae Hoon HEO
;
Yoon LEE
;
Ji Tae CHOUNG
Author Information
1. Department of Pediatrics, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jt42525@korea.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Atopic dermatitis;
Mobile applications;
Consumer health information
- MeSH:
Authorship;
Certification;
Consumer Health Information;
Dermatitis, Atopic;
Humans;
Internet;
Korea;
Mobile Applications*;
Publications
- From:Allergy, Asthma & Respiratory Disease
2014;2(5):370-376
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: As the mobile internet spread, patients can access to health information via mobile applications. But this information must be a reliable for treatment. This study evaluated the quality of information of mobile applications that with atopic dermatitis. METHODS: On April 2014, the 98 mobile applications that had been searched on three application markets using the keywords, 'atopic dermatitis' etc. were enrolled. Thirty-one applications with information about atopic dermatitis written in Korean were surveyed. The informational quality of each application was examined using DISCERN tool and we also examined authorship, price, number of downloads. And we analyzed relations between these factors and informational quality. RESULTS: The mean score (+/-standard deviation) of overall rating of the publications of the 31 applications were 1.55 (+/-0.888) points. The overall quality of the publication was 'low' in 80.6% of applications, 'moderate' in 16.1%, 'high' in 3.2% of the applications we evaluated. There were no significant differences between the score of price of applications in all questions. However the mean score of group of downloads 1,000 and more were 2.25 (+/-1.035), significantly higher than group of downloads less than 1,000, 1.30 (+/-0.703) (P=0.043). CONCLUSION: The quality of mobile applications providing health information on atopic dermatitis needs significant improvement. Some guidelines and certifications of the mobile application are needed to provide health information about atopic dermatitis, association with experts.