Apps have the potential to aid in cancer self-management, but there is limited guidance available for selecting among currently available options. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the behavior change techniques (BCTs) and quality of publicly available cancer self-management apps.

Cancer self-management apps were identified from the Apple and Google Play stores in April 2022. Trained study team members coded the BCTs included in each app and rated its quality using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS). BCTs supported by previous literature were coded as cancer management BCTs.

The 39 apps meeting inclusion criteria included an average of 5.85 BCTs (standard deviation [SD], 3.49; range, 0-15) and 3.54 cancer management BCTs (SD, 1.90; range, 0-8). The most commonly included BCTs were educational or informational strategies: provide information about behavior-health link, provide instruction, and provide information on consequences. The overall app quality ranged from 1.69 to 4.20 (M, 3.29; SD, 0.67).

No cancer self-management apps were of excellent quality, and less than half included multiple cancer management BCTs beyond education. Clinical implications are discussed, and opportunities to improve the content and quality of apps to address the critical self-management needs of patients diagnosed with cancer are highlighted.

M.E.M. was supported by the NCI of the National Institutes of Health under Award No. K07CA200668. A.E.N., K.L.K., and R.S. were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health under Award No. T32HD068223. R.R.R. was supported by NHLBI of the National Institutes of Health under Award No. K23HL139992.

Conception and design: Meghan E. McGrady, Laura E. Schwartz, Amy E. Noser, Rachelle R. Ramsey

Financial support: Meghan E. McGrady

Collection and assembly of data: All authors

Data analysis and interpretation: Meghan E. McGrady, Laura E. Schwartz, Kimberly L. Klages, Rachelle R. Ramsey

Manuscript writing: All authors

Final approval of manuscript: All authors

Accountable for all aspects of the work: All authors

AUTHORS' DISCLOSURES OF POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Systematic Evaluation of the Behavior Change Techniques and Quality of Commercially Available Cancer Self-Management Apps

The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated unless otherwise noted. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/op/authors/author-center.

Open Payments is a public database containing information reported by companies about payments made to US-licensed physicians (Open Payments).

Meghan E. McGrady

Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Medtronic

No other potential conflicts of interest were reported.