[Great potential, little substance : Overview of quality and quantity of urological apps in the German app store].

Abstract

Background: The range of medical apps is broad and diverse. The previous evaluations are inconsistent and limited to the respective areas of application.

Objectives: The main objective of this work is to comprehensively present, organize, and evaluate the current range of urological apps with the help of a semi-automatic retrospective app store analysis (SARASA).

Methods: Application of an adaptable method based on filter processes according to predefined criteria by means of SARASA to characterize urological apps from various subject areas in the Apple App Store with subsequent manual filtering and evaluation.

Results: From the original list of 34,830 apps in the "Medicine" category of the Apple App Store on 27 September 2021, 3556 apps remained after apps without a German-language store description were removed. 43 subject-specific apps remained for further analysis and description. The number of reviews, rating, topicality, urological issues, technical support and richness of content were taken into account. The two most relevant apps for each topic are presented in detail.

Conclusion: SARASA offers an easy-to-use method for applying filter processes to identify apps in app stores that meet predefined, formal criteria. The highest number of apps can be classified in categories of patient information and further education and training. An app officially listed by the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Products (BfArM) in the sense of a digital health application (DiGA), the costs of which are reimbursed by the health insurance companies, is available for urology in only one single case. The authors see great potential for future developments in this regard.