title: Analysis of the information quality of korean obesity-management smartphone applications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study analyzed smartphone obesity-management applications developed in Korea and the quality of the information that they provide.
  
  
  METHODS
  Obesity-management smartphone applications were searched using the keywords 'obesity + management,' 'weight + management,' 'weight + loss,' 'weight + exercise,' 'weight + diet,' 'weight + calories,' and 'diet,' with a search application programming interface (provided by Apple) between September 23 and September 27, 2013. These applications were then classified according to their main purpose, type of interventions used, price, type of developer, and user ratings. The information quality of the applications was analyzed using the Silberg scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 148 smartphone applications for obesity management were found. The main purpose of most of these applications (70.95%) was to provide information regarding weight control. The most frequently used intervention (34.62%) was to provide information on exercise management. More than half of the applications (58.78%) were free of charge. The mean of users' rating of these applications was 3.68 out of 5. The quality of information provided by these applications was evaluated as 4.55 out of 9: specifically, 1.79 out of 3 for authorship, 0.22 out of 2 for attribution, 1.29 out of 2 for disclosure, and 1.25 out of 2 for currency. Only three of the applications (2.88%) had a score on the Silberg scale greater than or equal to 7 points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study suggest that the quality of information provided by smartphone applications in the healthcare domain urgently need to be evaluated to prevent users being misinformed by these applications.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjoo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeoun-Ae
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Research Institute of Nursing Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yul Ha
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Min
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, Eulji University, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Evaluation Study; Mobile Health Units; Obesity; Telemedicine; Weight Loss