What smartphone apps exist to support recovery from opioid use disorder? A content analysis of publicly available opioid-related smartphone apps
Background
An estimated 84,181 people died due to opioid overdose in 2022 alone [1]. Mobile technologies may offer an additional pathway to provide support to people seeking recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD). To this end, we conducted a content analysis of opioid-related apps to determine to what extent apps exist that provide support to people seeking or in recovery from OUD. For apps specifically targeting OUD recovery, we identified the tools these apps offer to users seeking support in their recovery.
Methods
Our team conducted a content analysis of publicly available opioid-related apps identified via web-scraping in the Apple and Google app stores. Using a two-step qualitative coding process, we first identified which apps were meaningfully related to OUD recovery and second identified what tools, if any, these apps provided.
Results
Web-scraping identified 1,136 apps from the Apple App Store (n = 247) and Google Play (n = 889). Of those, 290 apps were specific to OUD recovery (65% of iOS apps, 35% of Android apps). Of those, 161 apps were included in our final analysis. The most common type of tools provided support for motivation (65.2%) and accountability (65.8%). Many apps (53%) also supported linkage to recovery support (e.g., meeting finder, telehealth). Surprisingly, fewer apps provided information about OUD recovery (43.5%) or tools for cravings (33.5%). 42.9% of apps had limited accessibility (e.g., paywalls, private invite).
Conclusions
Our results show a substantial increase in the number of apps designed to support OUD recovery. Nevertheless, there remains a need for apps that provide empirically supported information and tools. Furthermore, restrictions in accessibility (i.e., findability, cost, private) may limit the impact of available apps.
