Review apps to evaluate stroke risk in prehospital setting

Mobile applications have experienced exponential growth in recent years, including mHealth apps related to stroke, one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide. This review aims to analyze the characteristics of available stroke apps designed to assist in assessing stroke severity. Initially, 809 apps were retrieved from both the App Store and Google Play Store. These apps were then filtered, primarily excluding those that did not implement a prehospital stroke scale with a resulting score. A total of 36 apps met the criteria for further analysis in this review. The majority of these apps displayed scale items using text only. Certain scales, such as RACE, VAN, and NIHSS, are supported by studies demonstrating their ability to accurately assess stroke severity. Consequently, apps featuring these scales are more likely to be useful in achieving the objective of this study. Improvements to these apps could be made by expanding the functionalities they offer and enhancing their user experience.