Anum Sattar, Hina Rehman, Safila Naveed, Sumaira Khadim, Nargis Khan, Ahmad Furqan Kazi, Wajid Syed, Mahmood Basil A Al-Rawi, Shazia Jamshed
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Web-based pharmacy apps facilitate the electronic exchange of health-related supplies. They are digital platforms that run on websites and smartphones. Pakistan is experiencing significant progress in smartphone integration and digital services, leading to the expansion of the online pharmacy business. However, concerns remain over the legitimacy and precision of these apps.
Objective: The aim of this study was to undertake a thorough assessment of digital pharmacy apps accessible in Pakistan. Specifically, our focus was on apps accessible via the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store. To fulfill this objective, an evaluation of these apps was performed using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS).
Methods: A research investigation was conducted to analyze the online pharmacy apps in Pakistan. Initially, 50 apps were identified, but 10 were excluded for not meeting pre-established criteria, 10 were excluded for being in languages other than English, and 7 could not be downloaded. All paid and non-English apps were also excluded. A total of 23 apps were selected for the study, acquired via the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. The evaluation was conducted by 2 researchers who maintained independence from one another by using the MARS.
Results: Initially, 50 apps were identified, of which 27 were excluded for not meeting the predetermined criteria. A total of 23 apps were selected for the study, acquired via the Google Play Store and iOS App Store. Strong positive correlations between higher user engagement and better app functionality and information quality were observed. The average rating of the 23 apps ranged between 2.64 and 4.00 on a scale up to 5. The aesthetics dimension had the highest mean score of 3.6, while the information dimension had the lowest mean score of 3.2. For credibility and reliability, different tests (intraclass correlation, Cohen κ, Krippendorff α, and Cronbach α) on each dimension of the MARS were performed by using SPSS Statistics 27. The intraclass correlation of all MARS dimensions ranged from 0.702-0.913 (95% CI 0.521-0.943), the Cohen κ of all MARS dimensions ranged from 0.388-0.907 (95% CI 0.151-0.994), the Krippendorff α of all MARS dimensions ranged from 0.705-0.979 (95% CI 0.657-0.923), and Cronbach α had a lower score of 0.821 in the information dimension and a higher score of .911 in the subjective quality dimension of the MARS.
Conclusions: This study evaluated online pharmacy apps in Pakistan by using the MARS. It is the first study on online pharmacy apps in Pakistan. The findings of the evaluation have provided insights into the reliability and efficacy of these apps.
期刊介绍：
JMIR mHealth and uHealth (JMU, ISSN 2291-5222) is a spin-off journal of JMIR, the leading eHealth journal (Impact Factor 2016: 5.175). JMIR mHealth and uHealth is indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central, and Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), and in June 2017 received a stunning inaugural Impact Factor of 4.636.
The journal focusses on health and biomedical applications in mobile and tablet computing, pervasive and ubiquitous computing, wearable computing and domotics.
JMIR mHealth and uHealth publishes since 2013 and was the first mhealth journal in Pubmed. It publishes even faster and has a broader scope with including papers which are more technical or more formative/developmental than what would be published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
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