JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In recent years there has been a rise in the use of Mobile Applications (Apps) to prevent and treat adult overweight/obesity since they can facilitate the tracking of physical and dietary patterns, provide recommendations and advice, and include motivation strategies to achieve personalized goals. However, evidence available on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety criteria used for assessing theses Apps is scarce.

Objective:

To identify efficacy, safety and effectiveness criteria used to assess weight control, overweight and obesity management in Mobile health (mHealth) interventions through a systematic review.

Methods:

PUBMED, PsycINFO, Scopus, UK Tripdatabase, Clinical Trials Register and the Cochrane library were browsed up to May 2018. All kinds of clinical studies were considered. Two independent reviewers assessed quality using SING criteria. Ratings were used to provide an overall score for each study (low, moderate or high). Data were synthesized in evidence tables.

Results:

From 226 potentially relevant publications, only 21 studies were included. Of those, 11 (52%) were randomized control trials, 8 were one-single arm studies (38%) and 2 were controlled trials (10%). The studies were classified as low (10), high (6) and moderate (5) quality according SING criteria. All of them focused on efficacy, but none on effectiveness and safety. In 8 studies the Apps were used as stand-alone interventions, the rest were multicomponent studies that included other tools for support such as sensors or web sites. The main management tool included in the Apps was feedback messaging (18 Apps), followed by mechanisms of self-monitoring and setting goals (14 each one). The majority of the studies selected considered weight/body mass index loss as the main outcome (15) followed by changes in physical activity (11) and diet (9). Regarding the outputs, the most reported were Usability/Adherence/Engagement (13), followed by Acceptability and Satisfaction (4 each one).

Conclusions:

There is a remarkable heterogeneity among studies and most of them have methodological limitations which left considerable room for improvement regarding the quality of the studies. This research allows for the identification of relevant criteria to assess efficacy of weight control in overweight and obesity management mHealth interventions, but no information about safety and effectiveness was found. Clinical Trial: The protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42017056761) on 14 February 2017.