JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital health technologies are becoming more available to children and young people (CYP) and their families. However, there are no scoping reviews that provide both an overview of the characteristics of digital interventions for CYP and potential challenges to be considered when developing and implementing them.

Objective:

This study aimed to systematically review scientific publications to identify the current characteristics and potential complications of digital interventions for CYP.

Methods:

We searched five databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Medline, and CINAHL) and Google Scholar for eligible clinical trials published between January 1, 2018 and August 19, 2022. The initial search of the five databases yielded 3775 citations; duplicates and those not meeting the inclusion criteria were eliminated. Eventually, 34 articles, including 15 retrieved from Google Scholar, were included in the final review. Relevant information was then extracted from the 34 articles and the descriptive characteristics and potential challenges were classified.

Results:

Mental health (76.5%) was the most common target for digital intervention for CYP, exceeding physical health (23.5%) by more than three times. In addition, a substantial number of digital interventions were solely dedicated to CYP. Digital interventions for CYP were more likely to be delivered via computers (50%) rather than smartphones (38.2%). The duration of the digital intervention for CYP was more likely to vary depending on the target users (from a single session to 28 weeks) rather than the target disease (from 4 to 24 weeks). Intervention components were classified into five categories: guidance, tasks and activities, reminder and monitoring, supportive feedback, and reward systems. Potential challenges were subcategorized into ethical challenges, interpersonal challenges, and societal challenges. For ethical challenges, consent of CYP or caregivers to participate in research, potential risk of adverse events, and data privacy issues were considered. For interpersonal challenges, the engagement of CYP was affected by the preference or barrier of caregivers to participate in studies. For societal challenges, restricted ethnicity in recruitment, limited availability of digital technology, differences in internet use patterns and preferences between girls and boys, unified clinical settings, and language barrier were described.

Conclusions:

We identified potential challenges and provided suggestions about ethical, interpersonal, and societal aspects to consider when developing and deploying digital-based interventions for CYP. Our findings provide a thorough overview of the published literature and may serve as a comprehensive, informative foundation for any stakeholder responsible for the development and implementation of digital-based interventions for CYP.