Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32128233›Full record

ReviewDigital health

Unpacking mHealth interventions: A systematic review of behavior change techniques used in randomized controlled trials assessing mHealth effectiveness.

Michelle Dugas, Guodong Gordon Gao, Ritu Agarwal

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07461857 (Minority-focused Environmental Health Education and Tracking), which is not on this map. Cited by 86 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
86citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT07461857 nacompletednot on this map

Minority-focused Environmental Health Education and Tracking (MEET) Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorMillion Marker Wellness, Inc.Ran2025 to 2026Enrolled151ConditionsEnvironmental ExposureArmsEducation curriculum
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

86 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  11. Sticky apps, not sticky hands: A systematic review and content synthesis of hand hygiene mobile apps.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2021
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26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Michelle DugasCenter for Health Information and Decision Systems, University of Maryland, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1400-4515
Guodong Gordon GaoCenter for Health Information and Decision Systems, University of Maryland, USA.
Ritu AgarwalCenter for Health Information and Decision Systems, University of Maryland, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveMobile 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.

methodsWe 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.

resultsIn 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.

conclusionsOur results identify techniques that are commonly used in mobile health interventions and highlight pathways to advance the science of mobile health.

Indexed as

behavior change techniquesmHealthmobile health

Identifiers

PMID32128233
PMCPMC7036494

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.