The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review
BackgroundLimited access to nutrition support among populations with cancer is a major barrier to sustainable and quality cancer care. Increasing use of mobile health in health care has raised concerns about its validity and health impacts. ObjectiveThis systemati...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2025-02-01
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| Series: | JMIR Cancer |
| Online Access: | https://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e50662 |
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| _version_ | 1832095330270707712 |
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| author | Krystal Lu Shin Ng Murallitharan Munisamy Joanne Bee Yin Lim Mustafa Alshagga |
| author_facet | Krystal Lu Shin Ng Murallitharan Munisamy Joanne Bee Yin Lim Mustafa Alshagga |
| author_sort | Krystal Lu Shin Ng |
| collection | DOAJ |
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BackgroundLimited access to nutrition support among populations with cancer is a major barrier to sustainable and quality cancer care. Increasing use of mobile health in health care has raised concerns about its validity and health impacts.
ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of commercial or cancer-specific nutritional mobile apps among people living with cancer.
MethodsA systematic search of the CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed (MEDLINE), and Scopus databases was carried out in May 2024. All types of intervention studies were included, except observational studies, gray literature, and reference lists of key systematic reviews. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they involved (1) patients with or survivors of cancer and (2) nutrition-related mobile apps. Studies were excluded if the nutrition intervention was not delivered via mobile app or the app intervention was accompanied by dietary counseling. The review process was conducted based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The Risk of Bias 2 and Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies tools were used to assess the study quality. The Cochrane Review Manager (version 5.4) software was used to synthesize the results of the bias assessment.
ResultsA total of 13 interventions were included, comprising 783 adults or teenagers with cancer. Most studies focused on breast cancer (6/13, 46%), overweight (6/13, 46%), and survivors (9/13, 69%). Data on anthropometry and body composition (7/13, 54%; 387 participants), nutritional status (3/13, 23%; 249 participants), dietary intake (7/13, 54%; 352 participants), and quality of life (6/13, 46%; 384 participants) were gathered. Experimental groups were more likely to report significant improvements in body weight or composition, dietary compliance, nutritional status, and quality of life than control groups.
ConclusionsAlthough mobile app platforms are used to deliver nutrition interventions, the evidence for long-term efficacy, particularly in populations with cancer, remains elusive. More robust randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes, as well as more homogeneous population characteristics and outcome measures, are warranted.
Trial RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42023330575; https://tinyurl.com/55v56yaj |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6e0c0b1b4acd4c44ac407de6b3a7ab37 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2369-1999 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Cancer |
| spelling | doaj-art-6e0c0b1b4acd4c44ac407de6b3a7ab372025-02-05T20:30:37ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Cancer2369-19992025-02-0111e5066210.2196/50662The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic ReviewKrystal Lu Shin Nghttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1573-8409Murallitharan Munisamyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1586-8529Joanne Bee Yin Limhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2382-0453Mustafa Alshaggahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5064-2560 BackgroundLimited access to nutrition support among populations with cancer is a major barrier to sustainable and quality cancer care. Increasing use of mobile health in health care has raised concerns about its validity and health impacts. ObjectiveThis systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of commercial or cancer-specific nutritional mobile apps among people living with cancer. MethodsA systematic search of the CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed (MEDLINE), and Scopus databases was carried out in May 2024. All types of intervention studies were included, except observational studies, gray literature, and reference lists of key systematic reviews. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they involved (1) patients with or survivors of cancer and (2) nutrition-related mobile apps. Studies were excluded if the nutrition intervention was not delivered via mobile app or the app intervention was accompanied by dietary counseling. The review process was conducted based on the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The Risk of Bias 2 and Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies tools were used to assess the study quality. The Cochrane Review Manager (version 5.4) software was used to synthesize the results of the bias assessment. ResultsA total of 13 interventions were included, comprising 783 adults or teenagers with cancer. Most studies focused on breast cancer (6/13, 46%), overweight (6/13, 46%), and survivors (9/13, 69%). Data on anthropometry and body composition (7/13, 54%; 387 participants), nutritional status (3/13, 23%; 249 participants), dietary intake (7/13, 54%; 352 participants), and quality of life (6/13, 46%; 384 participants) were gathered. Experimental groups were more likely to report significant improvements in body weight or composition, dietary compliance, nutritional status, and quality of life than control groups. ConclusionsAlthough mobile app platforms are used to deliver nutrition interventions, the evidence for long-term efficacy, particularly in populations with cancer, remains elusive. More robust randomized controlled trials with larger sample sizes, as well as more homogeneous population characteristics and outcome measures, are warranted. Trial RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42023330575; https://tinyurl.com/55v56yajhttps://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e50662 |
| spellingShingle | Krystal Lu Shin Ng Murallitharan Munisamy Joanne Bee Yin Lim Mustafa Alshagga The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review JMIR Cancer |
| title | The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review |
| title_full | The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review |
| title_fullStr | The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review |
| title_short | The Effect of Nutritional Mobile Apps on Populations With Cancer: Systematic Review |
| title_sort | effect of nutritional mobile apps on populations with cancer systematic review |
| url | https://cancer.jmir.org/2025/1/e50662 |
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