Effectiveness of an mHealth intervention to improve the cardiometabolic profile of people with prehypertension in low-resource urban settings in Latin America: a randomised controlled trial

The Science of Salt: A Regularly Updated Systematic Review of the Implementation of Salt Reduction Interventions (November 2015 to February 2016)

“…These include nonrepresentative samples, subjective and unreliable outcome measures, and not controlling for other exposures that could affect the outcome. Given the uncertainty about the effectiveness of stand‐alone behavior change interventions, this review supports findings from previous studies which recommend that behavioral interventions are implemented alongside structural initiatives …”

“…Similarly, the other successful behavioral intervention delivered its faith‐based messages about stroke risk factors through culturally sensitive materials, regular newsletters, motivational calls, and education workshops . Whereas the two studies that did not show a change in salt intake used one mode of delivery—mobile‐based coaching or cooking education sessions . Other characteristics such as intervention duration, focus (salt‐specific vs broader intervention), and target population (healthy vs high‐risk) were balanced between the two effective studies and two ineffective studies, so their influence on the effectiveness could not be determined.…”

Nutrition status of children in Latin America

“…However, the widespread availability of these technologies in Latin America also makes them a potential vehicle to deliver interventions to promote physical activity and healthy diets, particularly among adolescents . A recent study demonstrated that while one mobile health technology with advice for lifestyle improvements did not reduce blood pressure, it successfully promoted a small reduction of weight and improved some dietary habits in individuals with prehypertension living in low‐resource urban settings in Argentina, Peru and Guatemala . Although evidence is currently limited, the recent popularity of interactive games that encourage physical activity, like Pokémon Go, could present opportunities to use technology to improve health; although sustaining effects in the long term may be an issue .…”

Intervenções tecnológicas na síndrome metabólica: novos rumos para os profissionais da saúde

“…According to WHO, eHealth, which is the use of ICTs for healthcare, is currently recognized as one of the mostly rapidly growing areas in health [7]. The use of ICTs in chronic diseases (e.g., MetS) allows for innovation in health interventions, improving cost efficiency and expanding resources and strategies for approaching and minimizing associated risk factors [8][9]. Notwithstanding, the health technology scenario, albeit thriving and attractive, takes on additional challenges in terms of interdisciplinarity, as it involves heterogeneous fields of knowledge (health, computer science, and communication), which converge towards a single objective: to improve people's quality of life.…”

“…Segundo a OMS, a eHealth, que significa uso das TICs para a saúde, é reconhecida atualmente como uma das áreas mais rapidamente crescentes [7]. O uso das TICs nas condições crônicas de saúde, como a SM, possibilita a inovação nas intervenções em saúde, melhorando a relação custo benefício e ampliando os recursos e estratégias para abordar e minimizar os fatores de risco associados [8][9]. Contudo, o cenário das tecnologias em saúde, mesmo que promissor e atrativo, traz consigo desafios adicionais em termos de interdisciplinaridade, já que aproxima campos heterogêneos (saúde, informática e comunicação), que convergem para um único objetivo: melhorar a qualidade de vida das pessoas.…”