In a context where physical activity is considered a key factor in healthy ageing, a group of researchers led by Luis Soto, a physiotherapist at the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili health complex, in collaboration with digital health experts from the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), studied the mobile exercise applications available in the leading app stores. The aim was to determine their usefulness for the online exercise prescription and whether they are adapted to the needs of older people. 

"Based on the current scientific evidence, we always recommend increasing physical activity, doing strength exercises and, above all, reducing sedentary behaviour. Doing exercise is obviously better than not doing it, but as professionals we need to optimise and adapt our prescription in terms of intensity, volume, frequency and progression," explained Soto. 

"The novelty of this study, which has been published by the British Geriatrics Society, is that it is a systematic review using the most rigorous methods for searching for, classifying and analysing applications, but it's based on the marketplaces for apps on our phones, rather than purely scientific databases and search engines. 

This means that it provides information about the apps that are available to us and that many people we know are likely to use," said PhD Marco Inzitari, Director of Integrated Care and Research at the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili, and a researcher at the Faculty of Health Sciences and the eHealth Centre at the UOC.

No app is adapted to cognitive function

The study analysed 15 of the more than 8,000 physical exercise applications available in Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store that met the following criteria for inclusion: downloaded more than 10,000 times, aimed at older people, updated in the last three years, in English and not exclusive to one discipline. 

"We found a limited range of apps for this user profile, and we believe that those that are available could be better adapted to the needs of frail older people, both in terms of prescribing exercise and in their ease of use, thereby empowering them in the process," explained the project's principal investigator. 

The analysis found no apps that were adapted to the cognitive needs of users. According to the researchers, an app for older people needs to be simple, intuitive and focused on their needs. For this reason, they believe it is essential to involve the end users of the apps in the design processes, and in particular to involve older people from different backgrounds and with different levels of technology skills. 

"Technology can help us, but it needs to be verified quantitatively and qualitatively. The aim of the study was to get a qualitative perspective (while also taking into account the scientific evidence) on apps that professionals could use to prescribe exercise to frail older people," added Soto. 

In their analysis, the researchers found that only one of the 15 apps was based on scientific evidence (citations in the scientific publication search engine PubMed). 

The institutions involved in the study are Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, HiTT Foundation, Qida and the Blanquerna School of Psychology, Education and Sport Science (Ramon Llull University). This research contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3 Good health and well-being and 10 Reducing inequalities.