CHARACTERIZING MEDICAL ANDROID APPS

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

There is a proliferation of medical mobile apps: Google Play alone has thousands of apps in the “Medical” category. Many such apps perform critical tasks (e.g., are used with a medical device or in lieu of a device); handle sensitive patient related information; perform diagnosis; or treat diseases. However, there are wide gaps between an app’s claims and users’ expectations as well as between app implementations and regulatory frameworks’ mandates. We perform the first study, based on analyzing more than 4,000 Android apps, that characterizes medical apps. We begin by introducing an automated classification scheme that integrates textual information extracted from multiple sources to establish the purpose and target audience for an app, based on fine-grained traits and high-level categories; we found that the most common functionalities involved connecting to medical devices (e.g., hearing aids, glucometers), offering tele-health services, or patient management. We then dive deeper into app nature and characterize according to the function and domain of the app. We reveal actionable findings found in various facets of medical applications, regulatory frameworks and user privacy and safety.

Identifier

85142295002 (Scopus)

ISBN

[9789898704405]

Publication Title

15th International Conference on ICT Society and Human Beings ICT 2022 19th International Conference on Web Based Communities and Social Media Wbc 2022 and 14th International Conference on E Health Eh 2022 Held at the 16th Multi Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems Mccsis 2022

First Page

155

Last Page

162

Grant

CCF-2106710

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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