Systematic quality evaluation of mobile health applications using Selenium web scraping approach.

Q3 Medicine
Przeglad epidemiologiczny Pub Date : 2025-10-03 Epub Date: 2025-08-05 DOI:10.32394/pe/208660
U Venkatesh, Varkey Nadakkavukaran Santhosh, Ashoo Grover, Om Prakash Bera, Ashish Joshi, R Durga
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Mobile health applications have emerged as powerful tools for improving public health, but their rapid proliferation raises concerns regarding quality, effectiveness, and security. T.

Objective: This study aimed to systematically evaluate the quality of health applications on the Google Play Store in India, focusing on physical, mental, and social health domains.

Material and methods: Python and Selenium-based web scraping approach was used to extracted data available from the Indian version of Google Play Store using domain-specific keywords. Applications were screened based on preset criteria. The Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG) was used to evaluate the application quality across eight domains. Kruskal Wallis test and partial least squares regression analysis was used for analysis.

Results: From 866 applications, 322 met eligibility criteria (182 physical, 84 mental, 56 social health). Commercial organizations dominated development. Social health applications demonstrated higher download volumes and superior quality across multiple MAG domains, with higher overall scores (35.18 ± 12.05) compared to physical (26.95 ± 11.27) and mental health applications (26.25 ±1 1.62). Quality metrics influenced user ratings differently across health domains, with weak correlation between MAG scores and ratings for physical health applications.

Conclusions: The study reveals significant variability in mHealth application quality, with concerning deficiencies in privacy and security. Findings highlight the need for enhanced regulatory oversight and quality standards in India's evolving digital health ecosystem.

使用Selenium网页抓取方法对移动医疗应用程序进行系统质量评估。
背景:移动医疗应用程序已成为改善公共卫生的有力工具,但它们的迅速扩散引发了对质量、有效性和安全性的担忧。目的:本研究旨在系统评估印度谷歌Play商店健康应用程序的质量,重点关注身体、心理和社会健康领域。材料和方法:使用Python和基于selenium的web抓取方法,使用特定于域的关键字从谷歌Play Store的印度版本中提取可用数据。申请是根据预设的标准进行筛选的。移动应用程序开发和评估指南(MAG)用于评估八个领域的应用程序质量。采用Kruskal Wallis检验和偏最小二乘回归分析。结果:在866名申请者中,322名符合资格标准(182名身体,84名心理,56名社会健康)。商业组织主导了发展。社交健康应用在多个MAG域的下载量和质量均较高,总体得分(35.18±12.05)高于身体健康应用(26.95±11.27)和精神健康应用(26.25±1.62)。质量指标对不同健康领域用户评分的影响不同,MAG评分与身体健康应用评分之间的相关性较弱。结论:该研究揭示了移动医疗应用质量的显著差异,以及隐私和安全方面的缺陷。调查结果强调了在印度不断发展的数字卫生生态系统中加强监管和质量标准的必要性。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Przeglad epidemiologiczny
Przeglad epidemiologiczny Medicine-Medicine (all)
CiteScore
1.10
自引率
0.00%
发文量
64
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