Mental health apps provide Psychoeducation, goal tracking, and mindfulness but lack specialized therapies and privacy

Many patients and clinicians are turning to mental health smartphone apps. These provide access to services. However, there needs to be  more current information and the features, privacy, price, and services offered by these apps.

The main question here is What do mental health smartphone apps offer patients, how has the app landscape changed, and are app popularity metrics associated with privacy?

Investigating further, a study was conducted by Erica Camacho and colleagues to analyze mental health apps' (current state) association between the privacy score of the app and popularity measured by star ratings and downloads. The researchers also determined the opportunities and challenges the mental health apps faced.

The study summary is given below:

• Total of 578 mental health apps were reviewed in the study. These apps are rated across 105 dimensions.
• Apps included conditions like sleep, schizophrenia, eating disorders, etc. (sample of apps pulled data from M-Health Index and Navigation Database, MIND)
• In June 2022, an app analysis was conducted.
• Each app was assessed for origin and accessibility, security and privacy, foundation clinical, engagement, features, input and output, and interoperability.
• 5 MIND criteria determined privacy scores. Privacy policy, security measures in place, data use and purpose, data deletion, and opting out of data collection were included.
• Popularity metric determined by star ratings and the number of downloads.
• Researchers measured the correlation between privacy score and popularity metrics.
• The top app features were Psychoeducation, goal setting, and mindfulness.
• Four hundred forty-three apps constituting 77%, had a privacy policy.
• The analysis done by researchers found no statistically significant correlation between privacy scores and Apple App Store/Google Play Store star ratings.
• There was a weak correlation between Google Play Store app downloads and privacy scores.

To conclude and summarise, the study results suggest that apps on the marketplace offering overlapping features and metrics like star ratings or the number of downloads do not provide adequate information about privacy or efficacy of mental health apps.

Further reading:

Camacho E, Cohen A, Torous J. Assessment of Mental Health Services Available Through Smartphone Apps. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(12):e2248784. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.48784