Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jul;24(3):207-226.
doi: 10.4258/hir.2018.24.3.207. Epub 2018 Jul 31.

Effectiveness of Mobile Health Application Use to Improve Health Behavior Changes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Myeunghee Han  1 , Eunjoo Lee  2
Affiliations

Effectiveness of Mobile Health Application Use to Improve Health Behavior Changes: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Myeunghee Han et al. Healthc Inform Res. 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of mobile health applications in changing health-related behaviors and clinical health outcomes.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted in this study. We conducted a comprehensive bibliographic search of articles on health behavior changes related to the use of mobile health applications in peer-reviewed journals published between January 1, 2000 and May 31, 2017. We used databases including CHINAHL, Ovid-Medline, EMBASE, and PubMed. The risk of bias assessment of the retrieved articles was examined using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network.

Results: A total of 20 articles met the inclusion criteria. Sixteen among 20 studies reported that applications have a positive impact on the targeted health behaviors or clinical health outcomes. In addition, most of the studies, which examined the satisfaction of participants, showed health app users have a statistically significant higher satisfaction.

Conclusions: Despite the high risk of bias, such as selection, performance, and detection, this systematic review found that the use of mobile health applications has a positive impact on health-related behaviors and clinical health outcomes. Application users were more satisfied with using mobile health applications to manage their health in comparison to users of conventional care.

Keywords: Health Behavior; Mobile Applications; Mobile Health; Review; Smartphone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Summary of risk of bias.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lee J, Lee M, Lim T, Kim T, Kim S, Suh D, et al. Effectiveness of an application-based neck exercise as a pain management tool for office workers with chronic neck pain and functional disability: a pilot randomized trial. Eur J Integr Med. 2017;12:87–92.
    1. Boudreaux ED, Waring ME, Hayes RB, Sadasivam RS, Mullen S, Pagoto S. Evaluating and selecting mobile health apps: strategies for healthcare providers and healthcare organizations. Transl Behav Med. 2014;4(4):363–371. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhao J, Freeman B, Li M. Can mobile phone apps influence people's health behavior change? An evidence review. J Med Internet Res. 2016;18(11):e287. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Free C, Phillips G, Watson L, Galli L, Felix L, Edwards P, et al. The effectiveness of mobile-health technologies to improve health care service delivery processes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2013;10(1):e1001363. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kitsiou S, Pare G, Jaana M, Gerber B. Effectiveness of mHealth interventions for patients with diabetes: an overview of systematic reviews. PLoS One. 2017;12(3):e0173160. - PMC - PubMed