Japanese Version of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS): Development and Validation

Kazumichi Yamamoto; Masami Ito; Masatsugu Sakata; Shiho Koizumi; Mizuho Hashisako; Masaaki Sato; Stoyan R Stoyanov; Toshi A Furukawa

doi:10.2196/33725

Japanese Version of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS): Development and Validation

JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022 Apr 14;10(4):e33725. doi: 10.2196/33725.

Authors

Kazumichi Yamamoto^#^{1

2}, Masami Ito^#¹, Masatsugu Sakata¹, Shiho Koizumi³, Mizuho Hashisako⁴, Masaaki Sato⁵, Stoyan R Stoyanov⁶, Toshi A Furukawa¹

Affiliations

¹ Departments of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan.
² Research Unit, Institute for Airway Disease, Takarazuka, Japan.
³ Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Department of Sociology, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Organ Transplantation Center, The University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Institute of Health & Biomedical Innovation, School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 35197241
PMCID: PMC9052018
DOI: 10.2196/33725

Abstract

Background: The number of mobile health (mHealth) apps continues to rise each year. Widespread use of the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) has allowed objective and multidimensional evaluation of the quality of these apps. However, no Japanese version of MARS has been made available to date.

Objective: The purposes of this study were (1) to develop a Japanese version of MARS and (2) to assess the translated version's reliability and validity in evaluating mHealth apps.

Methods: To develop the Japanese version of MARS, cross-cultural adaptation was used using a universalist approach. A total of 50 mental health apps were evaluated by 2 independent raters. Internal consistency and interrater reliability were then calculated. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed using multitrait scaling analysis and concurrent validity.

Results: After cross-cultural adaptation, all 23 items from the original MARS were included in the Japanese version. Following translation, back-translation, and review by the author of the original MARS, a Japanese version of MARS was finalized. Internal consistency was acceptable by all subscales of objective and subjective quality (Cronbach α=.78-.89). Interrater reliability was deemed acceptable, with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) ranging from 0.61 to 0.79 for all subscales, except for "functionality," which had an ICC of 0.40. Convergent/divergent validity and concurrent validity were also considered acceptable. The rate of missing responses was high in several items in the "information" subscale.

Conclusions: A Japanese version of MARS was developed and shown to be reliable and valid to a degree that was comparable to the original MARS. This Japanese version of MARS can be used as a standard to evaluate the quality and credibility of mHealth apps.

Keywords: MARS; MHAs; mHealth; mental health; mobile application; mobile application rating scale; mobile health applications; mobile health apps; scale development.

©Kazumichi Yamamoto, Masami Ito, Masatsugu Sakata, Shiho Koizumi, Mizuho Hashisako, Masaaki Sato, Stoyan R Stoyanov, Toshi A Furukawa. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 14.04.2022.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Humans
Japan
Mental Health
Mobile Applications*
Reproducibility of Results
Telemedicine*