Mobile phone apps for mental health have been touted as a way to improve access to treatment, but one meta-review has found there is little evidence in the scientific literature that backs up the efficacy of these apps.
The study, published in PLOS Digital Health Jan. 18, synthesized results from 14 reviews, representing nearly 48,000 participants. These studies investigated the efficacy of mobile apps to help improve mental health outcomes including depression, smoking cessation, anxiety and well-being.
The authors of the study wrote, "We failed to find convincing evidence in support of any mobile phone-based intervention on any outcome." The results of the studies themselves indicated modest improvement of mental health outcomes when using mobile mental health apps However, the researchers conducting the meta-review found universal issues within the study designs, which limited the strength of the results.
Many of the studies, for example, did not include a publication bias assessment that looked at small sample sizes, meaning their results couldn't be taken as conclusive evidence.
The researchers from University of Wisconsin Madison, Boston-based Harvard Medical School and Providence, R.I.-based Brown University suggested that the relative low-cost of mobile apps and their potential for widespread dissemination supports their potential for usefulness. They also suggested several future directions of study to lead to more convincing results on the topic.
Read the full study here.