Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Dec 17, 2021)
Date Submitted: Feb 25, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Smartphone-RCCT Database: A repository of Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials of Smartphone Applications for Chronic Conditions
ABSTRACT
Background:
Chronic conditions have a big impact on disability, morbidity, and mortality worldwide. Smartphone health applications (apps) have the potential to improve the health of patients with chronic conditions and to enhance the quality and efficiency of healthcare. The number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of smartphone health apps is increasing but a collection of the available evidence in one database is still missing.
Objective:
To describe Smartphone-RCCT, which is a database of randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of smartphone apps for chronic conditions.
Methods:
Smartphone-RCCT is an open-access database collecting bibliographic references and important characteristics of RCTs. For a study to be included, the following criteria had to be met: a) RCT published in a peer-reviewed journal; b) adult study participants with one or several chronic conditions that represent the main health problem addressed by the study intervention. c) Intervention: smartphone health app used by the patient. d) Comparator: any control condition. e) Outcomes: any patient-reported health outcome (studies exclusively measuring the patients’ knowledge about the chronic conditions or their satisfaction with the smartphone app were excluded). f) Sample size: at least 15 participants per study arm. We searched in electronic databases and other resources to identify relevant studies. Two reviewers selected the studies and extracted data independently.
Results:
The database is available in Open Science Framework (OSF): https://osf.io/nxerf/. Annual updates are planned.
Conclusions:
Smartphone-RCCT is the first systematic open-access database collecting peer-reviewed publications of RCTs of smartphone apps for patients with chronic conditions. The database accelerates the delivery of evidence-based information in a dynamic research field. It represents an essential resource for different stakeholders, such as professionals working in evidence synthesis, meta-epidemiological studies, or planning a RCT. Clinical Trial: https://osf.io/nxerf/
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