The Bass Connections Precision Medicine team, working with faculty mentor Susanne B. Haga, PhD, from the Duke Center for Applied Genomics & Precision Medicine, recently published their analysis of mobile health (mHealth) intervention studies published between 2015 and 2019.
“A Systematic Review of the Scope of Study of mHealth Interventions for Wellness and Related Challenges in Pediatric and Young Adult Populations” was published in the Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics open access journal.
Although a body of research has been conducted with mHealth interventions to promote wellness in children, adolescents, and young adults, it was not clear what areas had been explored and which challenges had been reported in the biomedical literature. With the easy and widespread accessibility to smartphone technology, the use of mobile apps for wellness interventions are likely to continue to expand. A 2018 survey reported that 95% of US teens have access to a smartphone. Current mHealth interventions are being evaluated for a range of clinical purposes, such as disease, behavioral and wellness monitoring.
Therefore, the team reviewed research with mHealth interventions used to improve wellness among healthy children, adolescents, and young adults, to assess the range of wellness topics and corresponding interventions and technologies, as well as reported challenges with the use of mHealth technologies. The study identified 54 papers in their analysis and studies were conducted in 21 countries; ranging in size from six to 9,851 participants.
Most pediatric mHealth intervention studies are conducted in adolescents, and sexual and reproductive health is the most studied topic. Diet, nutrition, and weight, along with physical activity, were also prevalent studies in the team’s research. Other topics of interest included general health, mental health, and alcohol use.
During their mHealth intervention investigation, the Bass team found that a wide range of studies have been conducted around the world, though concentrated mostly in the US. While cost and access to devices may be limiting factors in expanding research in children and young adults, the more specific challenges regarding the utilization of mHealth reflect user interest, appeal, and sustainability. The scope of topics and number of studies is anticipated to expand as the impact of the studied mHelath interventions is demonstrated. More features and tools are also predicted to developed to engage younger users for longer periods of time and potentially habituate regular use.
Read the full publication here
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