Previously submitted to: JMIR mHealth and uHealth (no longer under consideration since Apr 24, 2025)
Date Submitted: Oct 29, 2024
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
A Systematic Review of Smartphone Applications that Address Patient Care in the Peri-Operative Period
ABSTRACT
Background:
The use of smartphone applications by patients can be utilized to transform peri-operative care. With the ever-evolving landscape, updated systematic review is needed in this field.
Objective:
This study aims at summarising the smartphone-based applications used by patients as discussed in academic literature in the setting of peri-operative patient care.
Methods:
Seven databases were searched to identify articles discussing the use of smartphone applications by patients peri-operatively. Articles were included if they examined the use of smartphone-based applications in the setting of the perioperative period and examined the application’s usability and effectiveness. Each paper was appraised using CASP checklists and analysed by the thematic synthesis method.
Results:
Eighteen articles were selected for this study from 8,204 articles initially obtained. Themes that emerged from the analysis include the benefits of smartphone applications in peri-operative patient care: (1) patient education and instruction, (2) clear communication, (3) decreasing complications and use of healthcare resources, (4) postoperative monitoring and pain control, (5) improved patient support, satisfaction and safety. Other themes also emerged such as requirements of a practical smartphone application, what to include in smartphone application assessments, limitations of smartphone application studies and future directions of smartphone applications regarding patient peri-operative care.
Conclusions:
The landscape of mobile applications is exponentially growing and their use in the peri-operative period is imminent for the future. Their use can improve communication between surgical care professionals, enhance patient care in the perioperative period, and strengthen medical education. Further studies, validation tools and improvements will be required to implement their use and demonstrate outcomes that can guide recommendations surrounding their use. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
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