JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Substance use and use disorders in the US have had significant and devastating impacts on individuals and communities, and the escalating substance use crisis calls for urgent and innovative solutions to effectively detect and provide interventions for individuals in times of need. Recent mHealth-based approaches offer promising new opportunities to address these issues through ubiquitous devices. However, the design rationale, theoretical framing, and the mechanisms through which users' perspectives and experiences guide the design and deployment of such systems have not been analyzed in any prior systematic reviews.

Objective:

In this paper, we systematically review these approaches and applications for their feasibility, efficacy, and usability. Further, we evaluate whether human-centered research principles and techniques guide the design and development of these systems, and examine how the current state-of-art systems apply to real-world contexts. In an effort to gauge the applicability of these systems, we also investigate whether these approaches consider the effects of stigma and the privacy concerns related to collecting data on substance use. Lastly, we examine persistent challenges in the design and large-scale adoption of substance use intervention applications and draw inspiration from other domains of mHealth to suggest actionable reforms into the design and deployment of these applications.

Methods:

Four databases (PubMed, IEEE, JMIR and ACM DL) were searched over a five-year period (2016 - 2021) for articles evaluating connected mHealth approaches for substance use (alcohol use, marijuana use, opioid use, tobacco use, and substance co-use). Articles that will be included describe an mHealth detection or intervention targeting substance use and provided outcomes data and a discussion of design techniques and user perspectives. Independent evaluation will be conducted by one author, followed by secondary reviewer(s) who will check and validate themes and data.

Results:

This is a protocol for a systematic review, therefore results are not yet available. We are currently in the process of selecting the studies for inclusion in the final analysis.

Conclusions:

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic review to assess real-world applicability, scalability, and use of human-centered design and evaluation techniques in mHealth approaches targeting substance use. This study is expected to identify gaps in current substance use detection and intervention mHealth technologies and inform and motivate future development of such systems.