JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, with around 1.6 million deaths reported in 2017, and is a major contributor to suffering worldwide, with an estimated 10 million new cases every year. In the context of the World Health Organization’s End TB strategy and the quest for digital innovations, there is a need to understand what is happening around the world regarding research into the use of digital technology for better TB care and control.

Objective:

The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the state of research on the use of digital technology to enhance TB care and control. This study provides an overview of publications covering this subject and answers three main questions: (i) to what extent has the issue been addressed in the scientific literature between January 2016 and March 2019; (ii) which countries have been investing in research in this field; and (iii) what digital technologies were used?

Methods:

A web-based search was conducted on PubMed and Web of Science. Studies that describe the use of digital technology with specific reference to keywords such as TB, digital health, eHealth, and mHealth were included. Data from selected studies were synthesized into four functions using narrative and graphical methods. Such digital health interventions were categorized based on two classifications, one by function and the other by targeted user.

Results:

A total of 145 relevant studies were identified out of the 1,005 published between January 2016 and March 2019. Overall, 72% of the research focused on patient care (n=105/145) and 21% on surveillance and monitoring (n=30/145). Other programmatic functions (n=7/145) and eLearning (n=3/145) were less frequently studied. Most digital health technologies used for patient care included primarily diagnostic (n=63/106) and treatment adherence tools (n=43/106). Based on the second type of classification, 107 studies targeted healthcare providers (74%), 20 studies targeted clients (14%), 17 dealt with data services (12%), and one study was on the health system or resource management. The first authors’ affiliations were mainly from three countries: The United States of America (30 studies; 21%), China (20 studies; 14%) and India (17 studies; 12%). The researchers from the USA conducted their research both domestically and abroad, whereas researchers from China and India conducted all studies domestically.

Conclusions:

The majority of research conducted between January 2016 and March 2019 on digital interventions for TB focused on diagnostic tools and treatment adherence technologies, such as Video-Observed Therapy (VOT) and Short Message Service (SMS). Only a few studies addressed interventions for data services and health system or resource management.