SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
Using Mobile Applications to Increase Physical Activity: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 5 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
32 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Influence of Physical Activity and Diet Mobile Apps on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: Meta-Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Assessing the Pragmatic Nature of Mobile Health Interventions Promoting Physical Activity: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of Mobile Health Applications to Improve Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis for Physically Inactive Individuals.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Validity and Reliability of Mobile Applications for Assessing Strength, Power, Velocity, and Change-of-Direction: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Sugary snack restriction enhances body composition improvement in overweight women engaging in non-face-to-face walking during COVID-19.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- [Effectiveness of a mobile application in improving the physical and mental health of primary care health professionals].Atencion primaria · 2026Article
- Exploring the experiences of cancer survivors with a mobile survivorship care plan application: A mixed-methods study.Cancer survivorship research & care · 2026Article
- Smartphone App-Based Exercise for Pregnant Women in Indonesia: Quasi-Experimental Study on Physical Activity, Fear of Childbirth, and Quality of Life.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- Real-World and Clinical Implications of Patient Education, Lifestyle and Treatment Adherence in Romanian Diabetes Care: An Observational Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Integrating remote high-intensity interval training into multi-component obesity treatment for adolescents: Impacts on body composition, fitness, and lifestyle.Obesity pillars · 2025Article
- The global, regional, and national disease burden of colorectal cancer attributable to low physical activity from 1990 to 2021: an analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.International journal of colorectal disease · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of an online program based on the transtheoretical model to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits in adolescents.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Nutrition-Related Mobile Apps in the Spanish App Stores: Quality and Content Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Article
- Innovation is the driver behind quality improvements in diabetes care delivery.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2024Article
- Advances in diabetes technology within the digital diabetes ecosystem.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2024Review
- Smartphone-Based Digital Peer Support for a Walking Intervention Among Public Officers in Kanagawa Prefecture: Single-Arm Pre- and Postintervention Evaluation.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Systematic Review on the Impact of Mobile Applications with Augmented Reality to Improve Health.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity-major risk factors for the main non-communicable diseases-can be addressed by mobile health applications. Using an evidence-based systematic review design, we analysed studies on mobile applications to foster physical activity to determine whether they met the objective of increasing adults' physical activity. A bibliographic search was conducted in October 2020 using PubMed, Cochrane Library Plus, Biomed Central, Psychology Database, and SpringerLink, retrieving 191 articles. After titles and abstracts were reviewed, 149 articles were excluded, leaving 42 articles for a full-text review, of which 14 met the inclusion criteria. Despite differences in study duration, design, and variables, 13 of the 14 studies reported that applications were effective in increasing physical activity and healthy habits as dietary behaviour. However, further longer-term studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the effectiveness of mobile health applications in increasing physical activity.
Indexed as
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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.