Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness
Objective Mobile health interventions have surged in popularity but their implementation varies widely and evidence of effectiveness is mixed. We sought to advance understanding of the diversity of behavior change techniques in mHealth interventions, especially those that leverage advanced mobile te...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Digital Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207620905411 |
| _version_ | 1829481934861893632 |
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| author | Michelle Dugas Guodong (Gordon) Gao Ritu Agarwal |
| author_facet | Michelle Dugas Guodong (Gordon) Gao Ritu Agarwal |
| author_sort | Michelle Dugas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective Mobile health interventions have surged in popularity but their implementation varies widely and evidence of effectiveness is mixed. We sought to advance understanding of the diversity of behavior change techniques in mHealth interventions, especially those that leverage advanced mobile technologies. Methods We conducted a systematic review of articles published between 2007 and 2017 in high-impact journals in medicine, medical informatics, and health psychology to identify randomized controlled trials in which the effectiveness of an mobile health intervention was tested. Search terms included a mix of general (e.g. mobile health), hardware (e.g. Android, iPhone), and format (e.g. SMS, application) terms. Results In a systematic review of 21 studies, we found the techniques of personalization, feedback and monitoring, and associations were most commonly used in mobile health interventions, but there remains considerable opportunity to leverage more sophisticated aspects of ubiquitous computing. We found that prompts and cues were the most common behavior change techniques used in effective trials, but there was notable overlap in behavior change techniques used in ineffective trials. Conclusions Our results identify techniques that are commonly used in mobile health interventions and highlight pathways to advance the science of mobile health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:37:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a147cd39f28549cfa63c41910174a369 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2055-2076 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T21:37:30Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Digital Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-a147cd39f28549cfa63c41910174a3692022-12-21T22:46:32ZengSAGE PublishingDigital Health2055-20762020-02-01610.1177/2055207620905411Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectivenessMichelle DugasGuodong (Gordon) GaoRitu AgarwalObjective Mobile health interventions have surged in popularity but their implementation varies widely and evidence of effectiveness is mixed. We sought to advance understanding of the diversity of behavior change techniques in mHealth interventions, especially those that leverage advanced mobile technologies. Methods We conducted a systematic review of articles published between 2007 and 2017 in high-impact journals in medicine, medical informatics, and health psychology to identify randomized controlled trials in which the effectiveness of an mobile health intervention was tested. Search terms included a mix of general (e.g. mobile health), hardware (e.g. Android, iPhone), and format (e.g. SMS, application) terms. Results In a systematic review of 21 studies, we found the techniques of personalization, feedback and monitoring, and associations were most commonly used in mobile health interventions, but there remains considerable opportunity to leverage more sophisticated aspects of ubiquitous computing. We found that prompts and cues were the most common behavior change techniques used in effective trials, but there was notable overlap in behavior change techniques used in ineffective trials. Conclusions Our results identify techniques that are commonly used in mobile health interventions and highlight pathways to advance the science of mobile health.https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207620905411 |
| spellingShingle | Michelle Dugas Guodong (Gordon) Gao Ritu Agarwal Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness Digital Health |
| title | Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness |
| title_full | Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness |
| title_fullStr | Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness |
| title_short | Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness |
| title_sort | unpacking mhealth interventions a systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mhealth effectiveness |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2055207620905411 |
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