https://doi.org/10.4081/aiua.2022.4.470
Male infertility, what Mobile Health Applications “know”: quality analysis and adherence to European Association of Urology Guidelines
Submitted: September 6, 2022
Accepted: September 24, 2022
Published: December 27, 2022
Accepted: September 24, 2022
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Introduction: Male infertility (MI) is one of the most important worrying topics for the fertile age population. Nowadays, several mobile health applications (MHAs) have been developed to help and assist patients suffering from male infertility (MI), but their quality and adherence to the guidelines is not solved issue yet.
Materials and methods: On 2nd July 2022, an observational cross-sectional descriptive study of all MHAs on male infertility was conducted: a search on both the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store was performed. Our group reviewed all MHAs, evaluating the quality, using Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS), and the adherence to European Association of Urology guidelines, with a special tool created for this manuscript.
Results: In the final analysis we included 10 MHAs: 20% (n = 2) from the iTunes App Store and 80% (n = 8) from the Google Play Store. Across the sample, 80% (n = 8) of the apps provided general information on MI, 60% (n = 6) focused on diagnosis and 50% (n = 5) focused on treatment options, respectively. According to MARS tool, the mean score was 2.18 (0.78), 3.78 (0.36), 3.0 (0.53), 3.19 (0.45), 2.18 (0.54) for Engagement, Functionality, Aesthetic, Information and Subjective quality, respectively. According to EAU Adherence Score, the highest score was reported by “Infertilità” with 12/15 points while the lowest score was reported by “Fertility Diet Guide”, 0/15 points.
Conclusions: Nowadays, MHAs present in the market are not a reliable source of information on MI. An ideal MHAs should be based on scientific evidence, user friendly, respecting privacy and security laws, making patients feel capable and confident to change personal behavior or attitudes.
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How to Cite
Fusco, G. M., Cirillo, L., Abate, M., Morra, S., Morgera, V., Barone, B., Crocetto, F., Cacace, G., Di Bello, F., Spirito, L., Manfredi, C., Arcaniolo, D., Palmieri, A., Imbimbo, C., Mirone, V., & Napolitano, L. (2022). Male infertility, what Mobile Health Applications “know”: quality analysis and adherence to European Association of Urology Guidelines. Archivio Italiano Di Urologia E Andrologia, 94(4), 470–475. https://doi.org/10.4081/aiua.2022.4.470
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