Empirical Studies on Usability of mHealth Apps: A Systematic Literature Review
Abstract
The release of smartphones and tablets, which offer more advanced communication and computing capabilities, has led to the strong emergence of mHealth on the market. mHealth systems are being used to improve patients' lives and their health, in addition to facilitating communication between doctors and patients. Researchers are now proposing mHealth applications for many health conditions such as dementia, autism, dysarthria, Parkinson's disease, and so on. Usability becomes a key factor in the adoption of these applications, which are often used by people who have problems when using mobile devices and who have a limited experience of technology. The aim of this paper is to investigate the empirical usability evaluation processes described in a total of 22 selected studies related to mHealth applications by means of a Systematic Literature Review. Our results show that the empirical evaluation methods employed as regards usability could be improved by the adoption of automated mechanisms. The evaluation processes should also be revised to combine more than one method. This paper will help researchers and developers to create more usable applications. Our study demonstrates the importance of adapting health applications to users' need.
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Several definitions and domains of usability have been previously defined without clear unification.
“Several definitions and domains of usability have been previously defined without clear unification [11,16,17], but with several recurring themes.”
From Usability of Mobile Health Apps for Postoperative Care: Systematic Review (2020) · cites this paper as [11]
Adequate high-quality personnel training for primary healthcare providers is a facilitator for digital health uptake, while lack of that could be a barrier.
“Adequate high-quality personnel training for primary healthcare providers is a facilitator for digital health uptake, while lack of that could be a barrier.”
From Digital health interventions for non-communicable disease management in primary health care in low-and middle-income countries (2023) · cites this paper as [53]
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- Authors
- Zapata, B. C., Fernández-Alemán, J. L., Idri, A., & Toval, A.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Murcia (ES)
- Mohammed V University (MA)
- Corresponding author
- Zapata, Belén Cruz
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Systems
- Published
- 2015-01-20
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 1-1
- ISSN
- 0148-5598 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-689X
- OpenAlex
- W1973605820
- Cited by
- 585
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 67 · 2023: 55 · 2022: 53 · 2021: 83 · 2020: 54 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 51 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 41 · 2015: 14
- FWCI
- 9.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Systems (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Health, Technology, Consumer Behavior
- Keywords
- mobile health apps, usability evaluation, mobile health, automated assessment, user-centered design, technology adoption
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Research Design, Software Design, User-Computer Interface, Telemedicine, Mobile Applications
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