Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 21, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 21, 2022 - Nov 16, 2022
Date Accepted: Apr 18, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Mobile applications and quality of life in breast cancer patients and survivors - a systematic review
ABSTRACT
Background:
Side effects of breast cancer treatment may persist long into survivorship, reducing quality of life (QOL) in this population. There is growing evidence for the use of digital health technologies, such as mobile applications (apps), to support self-management, decrease symptom burden and improve QOL in cancer patients. However, an updated overview of the effects of mobile apps on QOL and well-being in breast cancer patients and survivors is needed.
Objective:
The aim of the present review is to provide an overview of breast cancer specific mobile app driven lifestyle and/or behavioural interventions in patient care through to survivorship and their impact on QOL and well-being.
Methods:
A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science was conducted in order to identify relevant studies. The inclusion criteria was limited to original studies involving a trial of a mobile app driven lifestyle or behavioural intervention for breast cancer patients or survivors and utilising QOL or well-being measures. The results of the studies that met the inclusion criteria were then synthesised in text and table format.
Results:
A total of 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Among the reviewed studies, 7 delivered an app-only intervention and 10 studies combined an app with additional supporting material, such as text messaging, telecoaching, wearables or printed materials. Among the reviewed studies, 7 focus on aiding breast cancer patients during the active treatment phase (excluding ongoing hormone therapy) whereas the remaining 10 focused on survivorship. The majority of the studies observed some positive effects on QOL or well-being measures.
Conclusions:
The results of the review indicate that mobile apps are a promising avenue for improving QOL and wellbeing in breast cancer patients and survivors. Further research including mental health and psychosocial components is needed. Future research would benefit from investigating the long-term effects of mobile app delivered lifestyle interventions in both breast cancer patients and survivors.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.