Evaluation and selection of mobile health (mHealth) applications using AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS

mHealth is an innovative, mobile application based system, which has the ability to assist people to manage their health better. With the increasing number of mHealth applications, it is very difficult to choose the ideal application. As of now, very limited studies have been carried out on mHealth application selection. To fill the existing research gaps, this study endeavours to develop a model for mHealth application selection by adopting a combined approach of AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS. The hierarchical model has been developed using factors identified from literature review and expert opinions. The ambiguity in comparing different mHealth applications has been handled by applying fuzzy set theory. The AHP has been used to determine the weights of criteria and sub-criteria, and the fuzzy-TOPSIS method has been used to obtain the final ranking of the applications. The applicability of the proposed model has been discussed through a numerical case example. The sensitivity analysis has been carried out by changing the weights of the criteria. In this study, user satisfaction, functionality, easy to learn and use, and information quality, have come out as important factors in mHealth application selection. The proposed method will help users as well as medical practitioners to select the proper mHealth application in this digital world.