# Mobile apps for psychotic disorders: a systematic review protocol

## TL;DR

This paper outlines a systematic review protocol to evaluate mobile apps for psychotic disorders, focusing on their features, safety, and impact to guide future development and implementation.

## Contribution

The study introduces a comprehensive synthesis of mobile app efficacy, safety, and acceptability for psychotic disorders, addressing gaps in existing reviews.

## Key findings

- Current reviews lack a synthesis of mobile app efficacy and safety for psychotic disorders.
- The review will use PRISMA-P and PICOS frameworks to guide a structured search across six databases.
- The study will analyze app features, usability, clinical impact, and risk of bias to inform future app development.

## Abstract

Early intervention for psychotic spectrum disorders can improve long-term outcomes, but service availability and quality can vary globally. Mobile apps have the potential to provide personalised and accessible support for people with psychotic disorders via features such as symptom monitoring, medication reminders, and self-management interventions. Existing reviews have provided an overview of such apps and their feasibility but lack a synthesis of their efficacy, safety, and acceptability. Addressing this gap would guide future app designs and facilitate their implementation by informing clinical and policy decisions. The purpose of this systematic review will be to synthesise the evidence about existing mobile apps for psychotic disorders, including their types and features, feasibility of implementation, usability, clinical impact, and safety.

This protocol has been structured using the PRISMA-P checklist, and the PICOS framework will guide the search strategy. Six electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycInfo) will be searched. Evaluations of mobile apps for psychotic disorders published in English will be included. Reviews will be excluded but their bibliographies will be searched for relevant articles. Two independent reviewers will conduct the title and abstract screening, full-text review, data extraction into a predetermined form, and risk of bias analysis; with any disagreements discussed until consensus at each stage. The risk of bias analysis will be conducted using the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias 2 and Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Meta-analyses will summarise data on feasibility, impact, and safety (where applicable), and app characteristics and user experience will be descriptively analysed.

While current reviews synthesise information about apps for psychotic disorders, most of them have a narrow focus on specific app types (e.g., monitoring), outcomes (e.g., engagement), or study types. This systematic review will update previous reviews and add a comprehensive synthesis of app features, their safety, and their overall impact. This review will inform future app development and evaluations and facilitate their implementation in clinical services. It will also address the potential negative impacts associated with these apps and propose ways to mitigate them.

PROSPERO CRD42024615781.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13643-025-02943-8.