Gamification Use and Design in Popular Health and Fitness Mobile Applications

score

1

scope

Paper

status

assessed

randomized Controlled Trial

Not recorded

blinding

not-confirmed

peer Reviewed

true

basis

Indexed peer-reviewed research; a qualifying randomized controlled design is not established in the reviewed record.

sources

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049225/ · https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118790394 · https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117118790394?journalCode=ahpa

review Scope

Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.

assessed At

2026-10-27

status

unassessed

score

Not recorded

general

26

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6348030/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049225/ · https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118790394

general

Methods & context

“Gamification was commonly used by popular health and fitness mobile applications, but none used the specified behavioral economic principles to design rewards or points. Mobile applications could potentially improve their use if their design better leveraged principles from behavioral economic” · “Use of behavioral economic principles focused on designing rewards or points using loss aversion (allocated upfront and could be lost), variable reinforcement (not allocated constantly), and probability inflation (using drawings or lottery designs).” · “The top 50 rankes free health and fitness apps were downloaded from the App Store by Apple. Gamification was used by 64% of mobile applications. Most applications that included gamification (97%) targeted behaviors related to physical activity and weight loss. Applications focused on other areas such as reproductive health, meditation, and sleep used gamification less often (11%). Game elements used most commonly included goal setting (78%), social influences (78%), and challenges (63%), while less common elements included points (6%) and levels (3%). No applications incorporated behavioral economics principles specified in the study.”

score

1

scope

Paper

status

assessed

randomized Controlled Trial

Not recorded

blinding

not-confirmed

peer Reviewed

true

basis

Indexed peer-reviewed research; a qualifying randomized controlled design is not established in the reviewed record.

sources

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049225/ · https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118790394 · https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117118790394?journalCode=ahpa

review Scope

Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.

assessed At

2026-10-27

general

26

1. key

   general:sound-xxxiv

   title

   Gamification and engagement with digital health interventions

   collection

   general

   trust Score

   2

1. id

   general-sound-xxxiv-pmid-30049225

   record Id

   pmid-30049225

   title

   Gamification Use and Design in Popular Health and Fitness Mobile Applications

   journal

   American journal of health promotion : AJHP

   year

   2019

   authors

   Cotton V, Patel MS.

   design

   urls

   https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6348030/ · https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049225/ · https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118790394

   quotes

   1. 1. text

         “Gamification was commonly used by popular health and fitness mobile applications, but none used the specified behavioral economic principles to design rewards or points. Mobile applications could potentially improve their use if their design better leveraged principles from behavioral economic”

         emphasis

         false

   2. 1. text

         “Use of behavioral economic principles focused on designing rewards or points using loss aversion (allocated upfront and could be lost), variable reinforcement (not allocated constantly), and probability inflation (using drawings or lottery designs).”

         emphasis

         false

   3. 1. text

         “The top 50 rankes free health and fitness apps were downloaded from the App Store by Apple. Gamification was used by 64% of mobile applications. Most applications that included gamification (97%) targeted behaviors related to physical activity and weight loss. Applications focused on other areas such as reproductive health, meditation, and sleep used gamification less often (11%). Game elements used most commonly included goal setting (78%), social influences (78%), and challenges (63%), while less common elements included points (6%) and levels (3%). No applications incorporated behavioral economics principles specified in the study.”

         emphasis

         false

   citation Count

   26

   source Pages

   142

   targets

   None recorded

   categories

   Methods & context

   doi

   10.1177/0890117118790394

   pmid

   30049225

   paper Trust Assessment

   score

   1

   scope

   Paper

   status

   assessed

   randomized Controlled Trial

   Not recorded

   blinding

   not-confirmed

   peer Reviewed

   true

   basis

   Indexed peer-reviewed research; a qualifying randomized controlled design is not established in the reviewed record.

   sources

   https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30049225/ · https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117118790394 · https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0890117118790394?journalCode=ahpa

   review Scope

   Existing publication-specific assessments and bibliographic indexing; no blanket full-text appraisal.

   assessed At

   2026-10-27

   collection

   general

   chapter Number

   4

   topic Id

   sound-xxxiv

   topic Title

   Gamification and engagement with digital health interventions

   trust Score

   2

status

unassessed

score

Not recorded

2

status

not-indexed

retrieval Available

false