ReviewJMIR mHealth and uHealth2017
Mobile Phone Apps for Quality of Life and Well-Being Assessment in Breast and Prostate Cancer Patients: Systematic Review.
Review in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 11 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
56 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 121 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review on the effectiveness of mobile health applications on mental health of breast cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2025Pooled it
- Factors Associated With Digital Intervention Engagement and Adherence in Patients With Cancer: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Cocreating an Automated mHealth Apps Systematic Review Process With Generative AI: Design Science Research Approach.JMIR medical education · 2024Pooled it
- Timing, Indicators, and Approaches to Digital Patient Experience Evaluation: Umbrella Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Mobile Apps and Quality of Life in Patients With Breast Cancer and Survivors: Systematic Literature Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Digital Patient Experience: Umbrella Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- How Is Quality of mHealth Interventions for Cancer Survivors Defined and Described? An Umbrella Review.JCO clinical cancer informatics · 2022Pooled it
- Benefits of Mobile Apps for Cancer Pain Management: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Electronic Health (eHealth) interventions to improve physical activity in patients with breast cancer.Breast cancer (Tokyo, Japan) · 2020Pooled it
- Evidence on the Use of Mobile Apps During the Treatment of Breast Cancer: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2019Pooled it
- Systematic review of technology-based interventions to improve anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life among patients with prostate cancer.Psycho-oncology · 2019Pooled it
- Testing two digital stress-management interventions in a randomized controlled trial of breast cancer patients.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Evaluating a digital tool for supporting people affected by breast cancer: a prospective randomized controlled trial-the ADAPT study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Trial
- Engagement in an Interactive App for Symptom Self-Management during Treatment in Patients With Breast or Prostate Cancer: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Trial
- Reduced symptom burden with the support of an interactive app during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer - A randomized controlled trial.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2020Trial
- Quality of Life of Women After a First Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Using a Self-Management Support mHealth App in Taiwan: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2020Trial
- The effects of the combined exercise intervention based on internet and social media software (CEIBISMS) on quality of life, muscle strength and cardiorespiratory capacity in Chinese postoperative breast cancer patients:a randomized controlled trial.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2019Trial
- A Culturally Tailored Mobile Health Intervention to Improve Quality of Life in Black Survivors With Prostate Cancer: Protocol for a Stratified Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Integrating digital solutions improves mental health management in cancer care.Communications medicine · 2026Review
- User Experience in mHealth Research: Bibliometric Analysis of Trends and Developments (2007-2023).JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMobile phone health apps are increasingly gaining attention in oncological care as potential tools for supporting cancer patients. Although the number of publications and health apps focusing on cancer is increasing, there are still few specifically designed for the most prevalent cancers diagnosed: breast and prostate cancers. There is a need to review the effect of these apps on breast and prostate cancer patients' quality of life (QoL) and well-being.
objectiveThe purposes of this study were to review the scientific literature on mobile phone apps targeting breast or prostate cancer patients and involving QoL and well-being (anxiety and depression symptoms) and analyze the clinical and technological characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of these apps, as well as patients' user experience with them.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature from The Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica Database, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and MEDLINE to identify studies involving apps focused on breast and/or prostate cancer patients and QoL and/or well-being published between January 1, 2000, and July 12, 2017. Only trial studies which met the inclusion criteria were selected. The systematic review was completed with a critical analysis of the apps previously identified in the health literature research that were available from the official app stores.
resultsThe systematic review of the literature yielded 3862 articles. After removal of duplicates, 3229 remained and were evaluated on the basis of title and abstract. Of these, 3211 were discarded as not meeting the inclusion criteria, and 18 records were selected for full text screening. Finally, 5 citations were included in this review, with a total of 644 patients, mean age 52.16 years. Four studies targeted breast cancer patients and 1 focused on prostate cancer patients. Four studies referred to apps that assessed QoL. Only 1 among the 5 analyzed apps was available from the official app store. In 3 studies, an app-related intervention was carried out, and 2 of them reported an improvement on QoL. The lengths of the app-related interventions varied from 4 to 12 weeks. Because 2 of the studies only tracked use of the app, no effect on QoL or well-being was found.
conclusionsDespite the existence of hundreds of studies involving cancer-focused mobile phone apps, there is a lack of rigorous trials regarding the QoL and/or well-being assessment in breast and/or prostate cancer patients. A strong and collective effort should be made by all health care providers to determine those cancer-focused apps that effectively represent useful, accurate, and reliable tools for cancer patients' disease management.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42017073069; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID= CRD42017073069 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6v38Clb9T).
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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.