The regulatory status of health apps that employ gamification.

Oscar Freyer^1,2, Kamil J Wrona³, Quentin de Snoeck^4,5, Moritz Hofmann², Tom Melvin⁵, Ashley Stratton-Powell^5,6, Paul Wicks⁷, Acacia C Parks⁸, Stephen Gilbert⁹

¹Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany.

²WhalesDontFly H&F GmbH, Berlin, Germany.

³Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Bielefeld, Germany.

⁴Therapixel, Nice, France.

⁵School of Medicine, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.

⁶RQM+, Altrincham, Cheshire, UK.

⁷Wicks Digital Health, Advantage House, Stowe Court, Lichfield, UK.

⁸Liquid Amber, Cortland, OH, USA.

⁹Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health, TUD Dresden University of Technology, Dresden, Germany. stephen.gilbert@tu-dresden.de.

PubMed PMC DOI PDF

Abstract

Smartphone applications are one of the main delivery modalities in digital health. Many of these mHealth apps use gamification to engage users, improve user experience, and achieve better health outcomes. Yet, it remains unclear whether gamified approaches help to deliver effective, safe, and clinically beneficial products to users. This study examines the compliance of 69 gamified mHealth apps wi…

Create a free account to keep reading

Free members get 10 full research views every month across publications, clinical trials, FDA clearances, adverse events, and NIH grants. No credit card required.

Create Free Account Sign In

Want unlimited research access? See Pro plans

Data Accuracy Notice: Research intelligence on Health AI Central is aggregated from public sources (PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov, FDA, NIH, CMS, and others) and refreshed nightly. Classifications and derived metrics are produced by automated methods described in our Methodology. We recommend verifying critical data points against the primary sources before making decisions.