Digital health developments and drawbacks: a review and analysis of top-returned apps for bipolar disorder
Open accessAbstract
Background: Although a growing body of literature highlights the potential benefit of smartphone-based mobile apps to aid in self-management and treatment of bipolar disorder, it is unclear whether such evidence-based apps are readily available and accessible to a user of the app store. Results: Using our systematic framework for the evaluation of mental health apps, we analyzed the accessibility, privacy, clinical foundation, features, and interoperability of the top-returned 100 apps for bipolar disorder. Only 56% of the apps mentioned bipolar disorder specifically in their title, description, or content. Only one app’s efficacy was supported in a peer-reviewed study, and 32 apps lacked privacy policies. The most common features provided were mood tracking, journaling, and psychoeducation. Conclusions: Our analysis reveals substantial limitations in the current digital environment for individuals seeking an evidence-based, clinically usable app for bipolar disorder. Although there have been academic advances in development of digital interventions for bipolar disorder, this work has yet to be translated to the publicly available app marketplace. This unmet need of digital mood management underscores the need for a comprehensive evaluation system of mental health apps, which we have endeavored to provide through our framework and accompanying database (apps.digitalpsych.org).
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A recent review found 68% of apps provided privacy policies.
“68% of apps provided privacy policies”
From Evaluating the quality, safety, and functionality of commonly used smartphone apps for bipolar disorder mood and sleep self-management (2022) · cites this paper as Lagan et al. 2020a
The Results (Privacy and confidentiality) report that 66 of 98 bipolar-disorder apps had publicly available privacy policies. That is 67.3%, which rounds to 67%, not the claimed 68%. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA recent review found a number of apps included harmful, stigmatizing or misleading content.
“a number of apps included harmful, stigmatizing or misleading content”
From Evaluating the quality, safety, and functionality of commonly used smartphone apps for bipolar disorder mood and sleep self-management (2022) · cites this paper as Lagan et al. 2020a
The Conclusion (page not provided) describes misleading and potentially dangerous bipolar-disorder apps, including the potential for misleading content. The Discussion (page not provided) also raises concern about triggering content in some apps. Our copy does not establish that apps included stigmatizing content, so that part of the claim is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredA recent review of top-returned apps for the keyword "bipolar" found only one app had peer-reviewed literature to support its efficacy.
“Only one app had peer-reviewed literature to support its efficacy”
From Evaluating the quality, safety, and functionality of commonly used smartphone apps for bipolar disorder mood and sleep self-management (2022) · cites this paper as Lagan et al. 2020a
A strength of using the MIND framework is that it focuses on objective criteria; use of this framework also permits comparison between our analysis of user-nominated apps and earlier work on marketplace offerings for BD.
“Given this, a strength of using the MIND framework is that it focuses on objective criteria; use of this framework also permits comparison between our analysis of user- nominated apps and earlier work on marketplace offerings for BD (Lagan et al. 2020a).”
From Evaluating the quality, safety, and functionality of commonly used smartphone apps for bipolar disorder mood and sleep self-management (2022) · cites this paper as Lagan et al. 2020a
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References 41 · Cited by 50
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Daus H Kislicyn N Heuer S Backenstrass M Disease management apps and technical assistance systems for bipolar disorder: Investigating the patients´ point of view J Affect Disord 2018 229 351 357 29331693
- Wisniewski H Liu G Henson P Vaidyam A Hajratalli NK Onnela JP Torous J Understanding the quality, effectiveness and attributes of top-rated smartphone health apps Evid-Based Mental Health 2019 22 1 4 9 PMC7061529 30635262
- Authors
- Lagan, S., Ramakrishnan, A., Lamont, E., Ramakrishnan, A., Frye, M., & Torous, J.
- Affiliations
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (US)
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Corresponding author
- Torous, John
- Venue
- International Journal of Bipolar Disorders
- Published
- 2020-12
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 39-39
- ISSN
- 2194-7511 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7704602
- OpenAlex
- W3107800523
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 9
- FWCI
- 7.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Bipolar Disorders (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Argosy Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
- Keywords
- bipolar disorder, mental health apps, mobile application, App Store, privacy policies, interoperability, mood tracking, psychoeducation, digital interventions, self-management
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