Trial reportChinese medical journal2016
Smartphone Application WeChat for Clinical Follow-up of Discharged Patients with Head and Neck Tumors: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Chinese medical journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evaluating Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions for Rehabilitation in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Follow-up strategies following completion of primary cancer treatment in adult cancer survivors.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Reliability of urological telesurgery compared with local surgery: multicentre randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Trial
- Efficacy of a WeChat-Based, Multidisciplinary, Full-Course Nutritional Management Program on the Nutritional Status of Patients With Ovarian Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Trial
- Application of telemedicine system for older adults postoperative patients in community: a feasibility study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Efficacy of Pharmaceutical Care in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension: A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of clinical practice · 2022Trial
- WeChat-Assisted Preoperative Health Education Reduces Burden of Care on Parents of Children with Simple Congenital Heart Disease: a Prospective Randomized Controlled Study.Brazilian journal of cardiovascular surgery · 2021Trial
- WeChat as a Platform for Baduanjin Intervention in Patients With Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in China: Retrospective Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Activity in nature mediates a park prescription intervention's effects on physical activity, park use and quality of life: a mixed-methods process evaluation.BMC public health · 2021Trial
- Effect of using the WeChat platform on the perioperative health education of parents of children who underwent transthoracic device closure of VSDs.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2020Trial
- A Mobile Health App for the Collection of Functional Outcomes After Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Trial
- Methodology of an exercise intervention program using social incentives and gamification for obese children.BMC public health · 2019Trial
- WeChat in China's mobile health: a bibliometric analysis of trends, hotspots, and academic contributions.JAMIA open · 2026Review
- Article
- Design and evaluation of an electronic follow-up questionnaire for patients after percutaneous coronary intervention.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Article
- Caregiver's experiences with a mobile-based educational program and its impact on dietary treatment compliance of children with methylmalonic acidemia: an online survey.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2025Article
- Transforming and facilitating health care delivery through social networking platforms: evidences and implications from WeChat.JAMIA open · 2024Review
- Walking exercise through smartphone application plus branched-chain amino acid supplementation benefits skeletal muscle mass and strength in liver cirrhosis: A prospective control trial.Zeitschrift fur Gastroenterologie · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNowadays, social media tools such as short message service, Twitter, video, and web-based systems are more and more used in clinical follow-up, making clinical follow-up much more time- and cost-effective than ever before. However, as the most popular social media in China, little is known about the utility of smartphone WeChat application in follow-up. In this study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility and superiority of WeChat application in clinical follow-up.
methodsA total of 108 patients diagnosed with head and neck tumor were randomized to WeChat follow-up (WFU) group or telephone follow-up (TFU) group for 6-month follow-up. The follow-ups were delivered by WeChat or telephone at 2 weeks, 1, 2, 3, and 6 months to the patients after being discharged. The study measurements were time consumption for follow-up delivery, total economic cost, lost-to-follow-up rate, and overall satisfaction for the follow-up method.
resultsTime consumption in WFU group for each patient (23.36 ± 6.16 min) was significantly shorter than that in TFU group (42.89 ± 7.15 min) (P < 0.001); total economic cost in WFU group (RMB 90 Yuan) was much lower than that in TFU group (RMB 196 Yuan). Lost-to-follow-up rate in the WFU group was 7.02% (4/57) compared with TFU group, 9.80% (5/51), while no significance was observed (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.176-2.740; P = 0.732). The overall satisfaction rate in WFU group was 94.34% (50/53) compared with 80.43% (37/46) in TFU group (95% CI: 0.057-0.067; P = 0.034).
conclusionsThe smartphone WeChat application was found to be a viable option for follow-up in discharged patients with head and neck tumors. WFU was time-effective, cost-effective, and convenient in communication. This doctor-led follow-up model has the potential to establish a good physician-patient relationship by enhancing dynamic communications and providing individual health instructions.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-15007498; http://www.chictr.org.cn/ showproj.aspx?proj=12613.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.