Abstract: Objective To explore the basic function and performance of mobile applications of dietary management for patients with inflammatory bowel disease(IBD). Methods Mobile applications of dietary management for IBD were searched by March 2020 in Android and IOS app stores. Results Eighteen English mobile applications for patients with IBD to manage the diet were included, including 2 in android systems, 14 IOS in systems and 2 both in IOS and android systems. Of the total, 7 were in Version 1. X; 6 in Version 2. X; 4 in Version 3. X and above and 1 Version was unknown. Totally,6.8±3.9 APPs had 2-15 parts, mainly about diet record (14/18), recipe reference (4/18), diet counseling (3/18), diet inquiries(5/18), record and feedback of diet adverse reactions (4/18), food digestion (2/18), personalized diet management (7/18), and diet education (8/18). There were other auxiliary functions, such as symptom management, emotional management, medication management, toilet positioning, information transmission, etc. Half of the 18 Apps provided instruction guidance; 33.3% reference sources, and 44.4% had professional medical instructors involving in software development. Conclusion At present, all APPs for patients with IBD are from abroad and most of the APPs have incomprehensive functions, such as without assessment modules for inflammatory bowel disease nutrition need, insufficient attention to adverse food reactions, unsuitable recommendations for Chinese patients, etc. meanwhile, without enough attention to laboratory examination results of the patients, without evidence-based related guidelines and participation of professional medical personnel in the development, most of the applications needs to be further updated. Applications suitable for Chinese patients are in urgent need.

Key words: inflammatory bowel disease, mobile medical, dietary management, APP