Efficacy of Mobile Health for Self-management of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors

Abstract

Background Although mobile health (mHealth) technologies are burgeoning in the research arena, there is a lack of mHealth interventions focused on improving self-management of individuals with cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRFs). Objective The purpose of this article was to critically and systematically review the efficacy of mHealth interventions for self-management of CMRF while evaluating quality, limitations, and issues with disparities using the technology acceptance model as a guiding framework. Methods PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, and Lilacs were searched to identify research articles published between January 2008 and November 2018. Articles were included if they were published in English, included adults, were conducted in the United States, and used mHealth to promote self-care or self-management of CMRFs. A total of 28 articles were included in this review. Results Studies incorporating mHealth have been linked to positive outcomes in self-management of diabetes, physical activity, diet, and weight loss. Most mHealth interventions included modalities such as text messaging, mobile applications, and wearable technologies. There was a lack of studies that are (1) in resource-poor settings, (2) theoretically driven, (3) community-engaged research, (4) measuring digital/health literacy, (5) measuring and evaluating engagement, (6) measuring outcomes related to disease self-management, and (7) focused on vulnerable populations, especially immigrants. Conclusion There is still a lack of mHealth interventions created specifically for immigrant populations, especially within the Latino community—the largest growing minority group in the United States. In an effort to meet this challenge, more culturally tailored mHealth interventions are needed.

A Digital Innovation for the Personalized Management of Adherence: Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

“…In another review, one article reported affordability problems related to the devices needed for the digital health solution, whereas other included studies found lower income to be a facilitator for engagement in digital solutions (47). Low socioeconomic status was found to be attributed to less utilization of digital health solutions in one review (40), whereas age appeared as a moderator for this association in another analysis (47). Within the layer of "living and working conditions, " education emerged as the most important determinant.…”

“…The PubMed search led to 35 results, of which 16 articles were included for analysis after the title and abstract assessment (Supplementary Material A). Nine of the identified studies focused on self-management support (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48), two were related to health education and information (49,50), and five studies investigated digital health services (51,52) or health promotion and disease prevention interventions (53-55).…”

“…Barriers to and facilitators of acceptance and utilization were explored in 10 studies (40,44,47,48,(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55), and findings added mainly to the opportunities and threats of the SWOT analysis. All 16 studies investigated approaches to improve equal acceptability and utilization throughout all population segments.…”

“…The general health status emerged as an essential determinant in the layer of "individual lifestyle factors." Results suggest that patients and health professionals should be enabled to tailor the interventions around individual health needs and preferences, which requires a profound understanding of the needs and routines of the target population and room for personalizing the interventions itself, as well as features such as reminders or motivators (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)55). In some health conditions, empowering, and monitoring features may lead to increased disease distress or be perceived as a control measure.…”

Sources of Health Information, Technology Access, and Use Among Non–English-Speaking Immigrant Women: Descriptive Correlational Study

“…Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the suspension of many face-to-face medical and health care services, telehealth and telecommunication have been widely used to offset the loss of manpower within face-to-face medical services [ 2 ]. Furthermore, many forms of internet-based health technologies ease the daily lives of Americans by providing ways to self-manage their illnesses and conditions such as diabetes, physical activity, diet, weight loss, heart failure, and more [ 3 ]. These daily health technologies use combinations of already existing technologies that are updated with the current technology.…”