Mobile phone interventions to improve health outcomes among patients with chronic diseases: an umbrella review and evidence synthesis from 34 meta-analyses.

This umbrella review of 34 meta-analyses, representing 235 randomised controlled trials done across 52 countries and 48 957 participants and ten chronic conditions, aimed to evaluate evidence on the efficacy of mobile phone interventions for populations with chronic diseases. We evaluated the strengths of evidence via the Fusar-Poli and Radua methodology. Compared with usual care, mobile apps had convincing effects on glycated haemoglobin reduction among adults with type 2 diabetes (d=0·44). Highly suggestive effects were found for both text messages and apps on various outcomes, including medication adherence (among patients with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and people with cardiovascular disease), glucose management in type 2 diabetes, and blood pressure reduction in hypertension. Many effects (42%) were non-significant. Various gaps were identified, such as a scarcity of reporting on moderators and publication bias by meta-analyses, little research in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, and little reporting on adverse events.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interests SS has received research grants from the US National Institutes of Health and the Mind & Life Institute. OS has received research grants from Ekhaga Foundation and Olle Engkvist Foundation, has once received a payment from Mindfully Sweden for educational content, and was a cofounder of Eudelics AB. STM has received research grants from the National Institutes of Health. JT is an unpaid scientific adviser for Precision Mental Wellness with stock options. SBG has received research grants from the US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, the Hope for Depression Research Foundation, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Center for Healthy Minds, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison; payments for reviewing grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; and payments for delivering lectures from Chemnitz University of Technology and Veterans Affairs Canada.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)