A comparison of mobile health evaluation techniques

Mobile health (mHealth) has the potential to profoundly improve global healthcare delivery by enabling healthcare workers to make more accurate diagnoses, instantly access records and transmit data as well as allowing patients to take an active involvement in their own healthcare. However, this potential cannot be reached without the adequate evaluation of interventions to ensure that they are not only safe and beneficial, but that they are acceptable to end-users. A major challenge faced by emerging mHealth interventions is that of identifying an evaluation technique which is able to provide a thorough, rigorous evaluation, which incorporates the needs and requirements of all stakeholders. This investigation will compare four mHealth evaluation methodologies against the characteristics of mHealth across protocol-related and logistical factors to identify methodological “matches” and to highlight important “mismatches.” These mismatches will require addressing in order to inform the design of the most rigorous and thorough mHealth evaluation protocol.