Evaluation of mobile Apps for health promotion of pregnant women with preeclampsia

Abstract

Objective  Evaluate the available mobile applications (Apps) about preeclampsia (PE) in the main operating systems for the health promotion of pregnant women.

Methods  Evaluative study of available mobile Apps on platforms (iOS and Android). A systematic search was performed in the virtual stores of the main operating systems: Play Store (Android, Google ) and App Store (iOS, Apple ), from April to June 2018, delimiting the following steps: establishment of evaluation objectives and the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of Apps (sample selection), definition of the information to be extracted, analysis of the results, discussion and presentation of the evaluation. For this, two devices were used: a Samsung Galaxy S8, compatible with Android, and an Iphone 8, compatible with iOS version 10.2.1. Three searches were conducted in each virtual store, using each of the following keywords individually: preeclampsia; eclampsia; and, health promotion of pregnant women with preeclampsia.

Results  11 Apps were eligible for the study. All were present on the Android operating system; only one was available on both operating systems, Android and iOS. Of the 11, six Apps addressed PE characteristics; only one addressed the clinical management of PE. The scores for evaluation of the Apps ranged from 14 to 29 points, on a scale that ranged from 6 to 30 points. Only two Apps had Portuguese versions.

Conclusion  It was possible to verify that the Apps have important information that can clarify doubts that pregnant women may have.

Mobile applications; Smartphone; Pre-eclampsia; Health promotion; Pregnant