Smartphone Apps for Preventing Adolescent Health Problems Among Health Care Professionals: Systematic Search and Quality Assessment.

TL;DR

A systematic review identified only 7 smartphone apps meeting quality criteria out of 976 surveyed, with inadequate coverage of adolescent prevention areas. Only sexual health and mental health apps were validated, leaving major prevention domains (orthopedics, substance abuse, vaccinations, nutrition) without suitable tools for primary care professionals.

Key findings

• Of 976 apps reviewed, only 7 (0.72%) met quality standards using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS-F), demonstrating poor availability of validated prevention tools for adolescents
• Coverage was severely limited: 5 validated apps addressed sexual health (3 on contraception only) and 2 addressed mental health, with 5 of 8 recommended prevention areas entirely unaddressed
• Interrater reliability was poor (ICC 0.0003), suggesting substantial variability in how reviewers assessed app quality using MARS-F
• Current apps are insufficient to support comprehensive adolescent preventive care, indicating need for systematic review before new tool development to avoid duplication

Why this matters at the bedside

Primary care professionals seeking digital tools to support preventive consultations with adolescents will find current mHealth apps limited in scope and validated options few. This identifies a significant gap in the digital health landscape for adolescent prevention across multiple clinical domains.