Report Questions Whether Health Apps Benefit Healthy People

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Consumers looking to use their mobile devices to improve their health -- or at least maintain their well-being -- have tens of thousands of choices. But if those consumers are already healthy, the apps won’t necessarily do them any good, according to a new report in The BMJ, a British medical journal.

Doctors don’t yet have definitive answers to these questions, partly because smartphone apps are so new and partly because government health authorities regulate consumer health apps at their own discretion, depending on the possible risks to users. As a result, many health and fitness apps lack rigorous clinical evidence to demonstrate they can actually improve health outcomes.


Report Questions Whether Health Apps Benefit Healthy People