Emily Knight*, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada Melanie I Stuckey, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada Harry Prapavessis, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada Robert J Petrella, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada Track: Research Presentation Topic: Mobile & Tablet Health Applications Presentation Type: Poster presentation Submission Type: Single Presentation Last modified: 2014-09-18

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Background: It is well reported in the literature that adults in developed countries are not achieving the requisite daily physical activity (PA) for health. There is a growing evidence base supporting the use of mobile health applications (apps) to promote PA behavior change within the health care setting. However, there is arguably less information demonstrating the evidence-informed development of apps. This may pose challenges for health professionals and consumers alike when selecting and implementing apps to achieve desired health outcomes and behaviours.

Objective: The purpose of this review was to identify evidence-based apps which could be used by health practitioners to enhance PA prescription for health promotion.

Methods: App stores for Apple and Android platforms were searched by 4 independent reviewers (2 per platform) using keyword (“physical activity”, “fitness”, “walking”, and “pedometer”) and category (“Health & Fitness” both free and paid) searching of available apps during a single day. The app description page of the first 100 results from each search were screened for eligibility. Data were extracted from the description page for all eligible apps, which included descriptive data for evidence-based features (e.g. PA guidelines, behavior change theories), social behaviour (e.g. linking with social networks), and clinical utility (e.g. cost, linking with peripheral health devices).

Results: The search generated 2400 results. After removing duplicates (n=1282) and ineligible apps (n=739), descriptive review was conducted for 379 apps (n=173 Android, n=206 Apple). None of the apps included an evidence-based PA target. However, a daily PA target of 10,000 steps was included in 1% (n=4) of apps. None of the app description pages indicated a theory for behaviour change. 5% (n=18) of apps were endorsed by or linked to an agency, of which 28% were academic (n=5) and the reminder (n=13) were commercial. 54% (n=203) indicated capacity for social networking, 25% (n=93) included a calendar feature for scheduling PA, and 12% (n=45) had a reminder feature for PA sessions. 16% (n=61) had capacity to pair with a peripheral device, such as proprietary devices (e.g. brand-specific step counters) or associated health devices (e.g. weigh scale, heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor). 38% of apps (n=142) had an associated cost for download, which ranged from $0.99-9.87, and the remainder (n=237) were free to download.

Conclusions: Despite the abundance of available health and fitness apps for PA, there is a shortage of evidence-based apps, which may limit the clinical utility. The present review indicates that there are a limited number of PA apps that include a feature to link with peripheral health devices, which could be useful for health management. From a behaviour adoption perspective, there are limited apps that include features like social collaboration, scheduling, and reminders for achieving prescribed health behaviours. Results from the current review demonstrate need for development of evidence-informed apps to promote PA.