Effectiveness of Mobile Health Application Use to Improve Health Behavior Changes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.
10.4258/hir.2018.24.3.207
- Author:
Myeunghee HAN
1
;
Eunjoo LEE
Author Information
1. School of Nursing, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- Publication Type:Randomized Controlled Trial ; Original Article
- Keywords:
Health Behavior;
Mobile Applications;
Smartphone;
Review;
Mobile Health
- MeSH:
Bias (Epidemiology);
Health Behavior*;
Mobile Applications;
Smartphone;
Telemedicine*
- From:Healthcare Informatics Research
2018;24(3):207-226
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of mobile health applications in changing health-related behaviors and clinical health outcomes. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in this study. We conducted a comprehensive bibliographic search of articles on health behavior changes related to the use of mobile health applications in peer-reviewed journals published between January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2017. We used databases including CHINAHL, Ovid-Medline, EMBASE, and PubMed. The risk of bias assessment of the retrieved articles was examined using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. RESULTS: A total of 20 articles met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen among 20 studies reported that applications have a positive impact on the targeted health behaviors or clinical health outcomes. In addition, most of the studies, which examined the satisfaction of participants, showed health app users have a statistically significant higher satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the high risk of bias, such as selection, performance, and detection, this systematic review found that the use of mobile health applications has a positive impact on health-related behaviors and clinical health outcomes. Application users were more satisfied with using mobile health applications to manage their health in comparison to users of conventional care.
