Mobile health applications for individuals with psoriatic arthritis.

Abstract

Objectives: Mobile health applications (apps) hold promise as tools for symptom tracking and management of chronic rheumatic diseases such as PsA. Apps for PsA have not been systematically evaluated. We conducted a comprehensive review of apps designed for patients with PsA.

Methods: The iOS and Android app stores were searched using the term 'arthritis' and individual app descriptions were reviewed for 'psoriatic arthritis'. Apps were downloaded and rated using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS). Additionally, the apps were evaluated to determine functionality, use of symptom scales and potential for integration within clinical care.

Results: The search was conducted in spring 2024 and 130 apps were found that mentioned 'arthritis'. Seven had specific mentions of PsA in their description. We found several other relevant apps by following recommendations in the app stores. In total, 10 apps for patients with PsA were identified. MARS scores suggest they were moderate to excellent in quality. The functionality of the 10 apps differed: 7 allowed for symptom tracking, 3 allowed for data export to health records, 2 allowed for medication tracking and 1 contained a patient community platform. The symptom tracking capabilities varied widely and we could find only one published study of any of the apps.

Conclusions: We analysed apps for PsA to identify potential unmet needs and found that there are few publicly available apps, their functionality varies tremendously and testing of these apps is almost non-existent. There appears to be room for improvement of apps for PsA.