The use of smartphone apps in clinical practice: A survey of South African physiotherapists

Abstract

In 2017, there were more than 325 000 health-related and medical apps in the app stores of all major mobile operating systems, with some of these apps having been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times (Pohl 2017). In the context of smartphones, ‘apps’ describe mobile applications designed to provide extra functionality for users, including browsing the web, listening to audio, watching video and creating new content (Ravenek & Alvarez 2016). Twenty per cent of American smartphone users report having downloaded a health-related app, the most popular of which are used to monitor exercise, diet and weight (Lupton 2014).