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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Digital Mental Health
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2024.1472251

A systematic review of features and content quality of Arabic mental mHealth apps

Provisionally accepted
Noorah Ibrahim S Alnaghaimshi Noorah Ibrahim S Alnaghaimshi 1*Mona S Awadalla Mona S Awadalla 2Scott Clark Scott Clark 1Mathias Baumert Mathias Baumert 1*
  • 1 University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
  • 2 Southern Adelaide Local Health Network (SALHN), Adelaide, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Anxiety and depression are major causes of disability in Arab countries, yet resources for mental health services are insufficient. Mobile devices may improve mental health care delivery (mental m-Health), but the Arab region's mental m-Health app landscape remains under-documented.This study aims to systematically assess the features, quality, and digital safety of mental m-Health apps available in the Arab marketplace. We also contrast a set of recommended Australian apps to benchmark current strategies and evidence-based practices and suggest areas for improvement in Arabic apps.Fifteen Arab country-specific iOS Apple Stores and an Android Google Play Store were searched. Apps that met the inclusion criteria were downloaded and evaluated using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) and the Mobile App Development and Assessment Guide (MAG).Twenty-two apps met the inclusion criteria. The majority of apps showed no evidence of mental health experts being involved in the app design processes. Most apps offered real-time communication with specialists through video, text, or audio calls rather than evidence-based selfhelp techniques. Standardized quality assessment showed low scores for design features related to engagement, information, safety, security, privacy, usability, transparency, and technical support. In comparison to apps available in Australia, Arabic apps did not include evidence-based interventions like CBT, self-help tools and crisis-specific resources, including a suicide support hotline and emergency numbers. In conclusion, dedicated frameworks and strategies are required to facilitate the effective development, validation, and uptake of Arabic mental mHealth apps. Involving end users and healthcare professionals in the design process may help improve app quality, dependability, and efficacy.

    Keywords: m-Health, Mental Health, Arabs, Arabic apps, Depression, Anxiety

    Received: 29 Jul 2024; Accepted: 20 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Alnaghaimshi, Awadalla, Clark and Baumert. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Noorah Ibrahim S Alnaghaimshi, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
    Mathias Baumert, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

    Disclaimer: 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.