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A Systematic Review of Smartphone Oral Contraceptive Reminder Applications

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate English-language Smartphone applications currently available to promote consistent oral contraceptive use. METHODS: Official mobile application platforms were searched using the terms “birth control,” “the pill,” and “contraception.” For each application we collected: health care professionals' involvement in application development, download (purchase) cost, average user rating, reminder method(s) used, safeguards in place to minimize the chance of a user missing an alarm, and whether the reminder application worked as advertised. RESULTS: Thirty-nine oral contraceptive reminder applications were identified. Three applications (7.7%) documented a health care professional's involvement in application development. The download cost ranged from free to $3.99. The average user rating was 3.4 out of 5. The methods of reminder included: sound (n=31 [79%]), vibration (n=25 [64%]), popup (n=19 [49%]), and/or light-emitting diode notification (n=20 [51%]). Additional features to prevent missing a pill were: snooze reminders (n=16 [41%]), required acknowledgment before the notice would clear from the display (n=26 [67%]); and audio alarm that permitted the reminder notice to override the phone's silent mode setting (n=20 [65%]). Eleven applications (28%) contained all of these safeguards. Seven of the applications (18%) did not function when installed. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone reminder applications may be useful as backup oral contraceptive reminder methods. As a result of the potential to miss an alarm and the lack of appropriate safeguards, Smartphone applications should not be relied on as the sole reminder to take a daily oral contraceptive. Oral contraceptive users could benefit from recommendations from health care professionals about the highest performing applications.