Mobile Applications for Endometriosis: A systematic review

Seven years is the average length of time a person with endometriosis must wait between the onset of symptoms and receiving a diagnosis. Why? Because of the invisibility of the condition and the recurrent minimization of pain. Monitoring symptoms is essential, and mobile applications are flourishing in the market—but how good are they really?

By conducting a systematic review of mobile applications for symptom tracking, we will evaluate them in terms of app quality, including usability, functionality, and inclusivity. We will identify best practices and determine whether a new app needs to be developed.

Simply by addressing endometriosis, this project already contributes to increasing the visibility of the disease and fostering inclusion. Indeed, endometriosis is also overlooked in research funding: in the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) search engine, the term “prostate” yields 242 research projects, whereas “endometriosis” returns only nine. The time has come to ensure that our healthcare systems are inclusive, equitable, and responsive to the real lives and experiences of the people they aim to serve.

The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of applications dedicated to tracking endometriosis symptoms. This mapping will enable us to obtain a comprehensive overview of the available apps and to assess them across several key dimensions: the quality of their content, their functionalities, their level of inclusivity, and the data protection they provide.

We will apply the rigorous seven-step methodology proposed by Gasteiger et al. to evaluate these health applications.