Digital Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older People: Protocol for a Scoping Review

Abstract

Background Digital technologies could contribute to health promotion and disease prevention. It is unclear if and how such digital technologies address the health needs of older people in nonclinical settings (ie, daily life). Objective This study aims to identify digital technologies for health promotion and disease prevention that target the needs of older people in nonclinical settings by performing a scoping review of the published literature. The scoping review is guided by the framework of Arksey and O’Malley. Methods Our scoping review follows the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. The information sources are bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and SCOPUS) and bibliographies of any included systematic reviews. Manual searches for additional studies will be performed in Google Scholar and most relevant journals. The electronic search strategy was developed in collaboration with a librarian who performed the search for studies on digital technologies for health promotion and disease prevention targeting the needs of older people. Study selection and data coding will be performed independently by 2 authors. Consensus will be reached by discussion. Eligibility is based on the PCC (Population, Concept, and Context) criteria as follows: (1) older people (population); (2) any digital (health) technology, such as websites, smartphone apps, or wearables (concept); and (3) health promotion and disease prevention in nonclinical (daily life, home, or community) settings (context). Primary studies with any design or reviews with a systematic methodology published in peer-reviewed academic journals will be included. Data items will address study designs, PCC criteria, benefits or barriers related to digital technology use by older people, and evidence gaps. Data will be synthesized using descriptive statistics or narratively described by identifying common themes. Quality appraisal will be performed for any included systematic reviews, using a validated instrument for this study type (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews, version 2 [AMSTAR2]). Results Following preliminary literature searches to test and calibrate the search syntax, the electronic literature search was performed in March 2022 and manual searches were completed in June 2022. Study selection based on titles and abstracts was completed in July 2022, and the full-text screen was initiated in July 2022. Conclusions Our scoping review will identify the types of digital technologies, health targets in the context of health promotion and disease prevention, and health benefits or barriers associated with the use of such technologies for older people in nonclinical settings. This knowledge could guide further research on how digital technologies can support healthy aging. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/37729

Different Approaches to Appraising Systematic Reviews of Digital Interventions for Physical Activity Promotion Using AMSTAR 2 Tool: Cross-Sectional Study

“…Behavior change related to PA could be supported by digital interventions involving modern technologies, such as apps or wearables [ 26 , 27 ]. However, it is unclear whether digital interventions to promote PA and healthy lifestyle work better alone or as a complement to in-person interventions [ 9 ] and whether they work in different populations based on age or health status [ 28 ]. There is also a need to identify factors that might increase the uptake of digital interventions for PA and improve participation in such interventions to prolong their effectiveness.…”

Digital Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older People: Scoping Review

“…A protocol for this scoping review was prospectively registered [ 13 ] and published [ 4 ]. There were no changes between the published protocol [ 4 ] and this scoping review.…”

“…According to our protocol [ 4 ], we planned to include studies with older people using any age range as defined by study authors. However, due to substantial heterogeneity in terminology used to define older people, the studies selected for this scoping review included people aged 50 years or above because such an age is considered as the onset of older age [ 17 ].…”

“…Older people could especially benefit from interventions addressing health promotion and disease prevention (for review, see [ 4 ]). Although most interventions targeting this population are analog (ie, nondigital) [ 5 ], digital technologies to support specific health outcomes, such as physical activity in people older than 50 years have already been identified in other reviews (eg, [ 6 , 7 ]).…”

Digital Technologies for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Older People: Protocol for a Scoping Review (Preprint)

“…This protocol was written before the study commenced (ie, before the electronic literature search was performed). The study was registered at the Open Science Framework [31].…”