JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Mobile Health (mHealth) interventions have been shown to be effective in improving chronic disease management, mainly in high-income countries. However, much less is known about the efficacy of mobile health interventions for the reduction of cardiovascular risk in low- and middle-income countries, including hypertension and diabetes, that are rapidly increasing.

Objective:

This review aimed to assess the efficiency of mobile health interventions when it comes to managing diabetes and hypertension patients in Africa

Methods:

Searches were done in July 2022 in Google Scholar, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, African Journals Online, and Web of Science for studies. The study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021230642). The main outcomes of interest were glycemic control (Changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)) and management of hypertension (Changes in HbA1c (mmol/mol) levels). The random effect model was used for the meta-analysis, and the I2 statistic was used to gauge study heterogeneity. The Z-test and P-values were used to evaluate the mean differences in blood pressure and HbA1c between the intervention and control groups

Results:

A total of 2,905 records were screened, of which nine studies with 4,118 participants were included in the review. Eight were RCTs and one cohort study, five studies assessed the effect of mHealth on glycemic control and four studies assessed the effect of mHealth on blood pressure control. The pooled analysis showed a reduction of mHealth intervention on glycemic control among diabetics (Weighted Mean Difference in HbA1c -1.56 mmol/mol, 95% CI: -1.02 -2.10; p=0.01); and on systolic and diastolic blood pressure (-15.17 mmHg, 95% CI: -4.63, -25.71; p0.01 and -7.17 mmHg, 95% CI: -14.04, -0.30; p0.04, respectively).

Conclusions:

these results justify large-scale implementation studies to assess the efficiency of mobile health in low-income resource settings. Clinical Trial: (CRD42021230642)