Mobile Health technologies in Brazil for the management of urinary incontinence: a systematic review of mobile application stores

• Grant number: 20/04330-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): May 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Patricia Driusso
• Grantee: Beatriz Laryssa de Jesus Santos
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI), also known as involuntary urination, is a condition that affects more woman than men. In Brazil, 61% of women with UI do not seek professional help because they feel embarrassed about the problem. The first line of treatment is the pelvic floor muscle training (PMFT) associated with lifestyle changes. However, patient adherence is still low due to lack of information, lack of specialists in the public health system, factors related to the patient and treatment costs. That said, mobile health applications (mHealth) offer a potential means to assist the management of these patients. Objective: perform a systematic review of the mobile health applications existing in online stores in Brazil for patients with UI in order to assess their quality. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study will be carried out of all mobile applications that were developed or updated between 2018-2020 available on the AppStore and Google Play Brazil. The review protocol will be registered on the international database of systematic reviews (PROSPERO). Analysis of results: the information and descriptions of the applications will be added to a spreadsheet in Excel. The quality evaluation of the applications will be added by the scale.