BACKGROUND
Mobile and wireless technology utilization is expected to change the landscape of healthcare service delivery, especially given that there are more than 7 billion mobile telephone subscriptions around the world
OBJECTIVE
This systematic review aims to showcase existing mobile health (m-health) applications (apps) for cancer recovering populations, with a special focus on studies that have produced clinically proven results.
METHODS
We search the bibliographic database Pubmed (Medline) to identify studies that use mobile applications for cancer recovering patients. The search was limited to articles written in English published in the last 5 years. A search of the App Store for iOS devices and Google Play for Android devices was performed as well to find the apps identified in the included research articles.
RESULTS
In total 30 articles meting the inclusion criteria where identified. From them,/. n= 8 studies produced clinically proven results, with different health outcomes namely weight loss, physical activity promotion, symptoms management and reporting, pain management and physical recovery, and mindfulness and mental distress management.
CONCLUSIONS
There is a positive correlation between mobile health usage and an improvement of a variety of health outcomes including physical activity promotion and pain management among others. Thus, m-health apps serve as a means to bridge health services and access between physicians and their patients. However, most of the analyzed studies use apps designed for the general public and they are not adapted to be prescribed by a general practitioner. Therefore creating apps with cancer patients in mind would allow to tailor m-health solutions to being disease appropriate and to better suits this population.