Methods for developing mobile apps in health: An integrative review of the literature

Abstract

Objective: to identify, in the Brazilian and international publications indexed in the databases, the main methods adopted by researchers for developing mobile apps in health. Method: integrative review of the literature, of studies published in the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL and SciELO, in 2012 – 2016. A total of 21 articles were selected for analysis. Results: the main methods for developing mobile apps in the area of health, described in the articles, were: systematic design of instruction, contextualized design of instruction, user-centered design and systems development life cycle. Conclusion: regardless of the method of development selected, the stages must be well-defined and structured, so that the mobile app developed may be useful to the end-user.