Thematic review on mobile health applications in design perspective publications from 2018-2023: Analysis of trends for future studies
List of Authors
  • Saiful Hasley Ramli , Xinxin Yu

Keyword
  • thematic review; mHealth apps development; ATLAS.ti 23; design strategy; user preference

Abstract
  • As 5G technology expands, many people use mobile health apps (mHealth apps) to manage their health, including chronic disease health management, maternal health information inquiry, mental illness problem consultation, and personal health management. Applications for mobile health that are poorly designed make it difficult for users to access health information. Despite the rise in publications on the subject, few evaluations look at the design of mHealth apps and their potential futures. Accordingly, the specific objective of the study is to report the results of a thematic review analysis that examined the research on mHealth apps development from the perspective of design, addressing the knowledge and methods required to build design-based mHealth apps. Thematic review analysis of 49 articles from 2018 to 2023 was used to collect data for this study, and the results of the ATLAS.ti 23 code-to-document review show the trends that researchers should look for. Four major themes can be seen from the analysis: 1) mHealth Apps applied Theory; 2) mHealth Apps Functionality Features; 3) mHealth apps design strategy; 4) mHealth Apps Design Elements. The findings imply that in order for users to adhere to mHealth apps as intended, future research trends in their design practice should integrate design strategy with transdisciplinary research. This endeavor will produce new understanding of new standards for research trends in mHealth app development.

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