What android mHealth apps in Iranian app store ‘Cafebazaar’ have more chance of download

Abstract

Background: Mobile health applications are growing and some Iranian mHealth apps have been installed more than 200,000 times, which indicates their popularity is increasing rapidly in Iran. Objectives: The objective of the current study was to detect predicators of mHealth apps download to forecast the app market. Methods: This study reviewed all medicine and health apps available in the most popular Iranian Android app store “Cafebazaar” and collected apps information up to November 20, 2016. Results: Of the 3331 studied apps, 24.4% were paid apps with prices ranging from 10,000 Rials to 300,000 Rials. The average number of apps published by a developer was eight. The effect of reviewed app variables was evaluated on the number of app downloads. There was heavy competition between mHealth app developers. There were several factors affecting the number of mHealth app downloads. mHealth apps with higher number of registered rating (P value < 0.001), Internet availability (P value < 0.001), and using the camera (P value = 0.03) were more likely to download. On the other hand, application price (P value < 0.001) and number of previous apps published by a developer (P value < 0.001) were inversely related to the number of app downloads. Conclusions: Considering these predicators would help developers to become more successful in the mHealth market.