Mental health apps (applications): A review of studies conducted in the UK

Abstract

Aims. With advancing technology, there are many online resources available for people with mental health problems. Smartphone software applications are an emerging resource for mental health conditions, for which further research is crucial in understanding its role in the wider community.This study aims to appraise the literature available, surrounding mental health apps (applications) in the UK. Individual applications are studied, for disorders such as Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Autism and Dementia for patients, carers and clinicians for either assessment or treatment. Methods. A comprehensive literature search was completed in September 2021, involving the following databases: Cinhal, MEDLINE, Psychinfo, EMBASE, PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane and Nice guidelines. Studies involving multiple apps and non apps technology, duplicate studies studying the same app, apps not targeting assessment or treatment and ones that were not in the English language were omitted. Studies performed on those below 18 years of age and ones based outside of the UK were also excluded. Results. A total of 515 articles were identified, out of which 8 apps were deemed eligible as per our inclusion criteria. 4 apps were based on dementia, 3 for depression, out of which 1 was for antenatal depression and 1 for anxiety. It was then analysed whether some apps investigated assessment, treatment or both. 5 apps were used for the treatment of mental health disorders including 1 for both assessment and treatment and 2 focused on the research, still including assessment of mental health disorders. Conclusion. This review only looked into apps that are currently available to download in the UK and some apps studied are currently in use in NHS mental health trusts. In general, digital apps could offer the ability to respond quickly and efficiently and can reach people over great distances with minimal mobility requirements, thus, guided by a rigorous evidence-based approach, apps could be the solution to combat large waiting lists in the NHS.