SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2021
Efficacy of Interventions That Incorporate Mobile Apps in Facilitating Weight Loss and Health Behavior Change in the Asian Population: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 7 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
25 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of smartphone applications targeting eating behaviour for weight loss.Scientific reports · 2026Pooled it
- The Role of Mobile Apps in Obesity Management: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- The Use of Mobile Technologies to Promote Physical Activity and Reduce Sedentary Behaviors in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Mobile health (m-health) smartphone interventions for adolescents and adults with overweight or obesity.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of E-Health Interventions Promoting Physical Activity and Reducing Sedentary Behavior in College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Use of Mobile Health Interventions for Outcomes among Middle-Aged and Elderly Patients with Prediabetes: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Sustainability of Weight Loss Through Smartphone Apps: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on Anthropometric, Metabolic, and Dietary Outcomes.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- The Effect of a mHealth App (KENPO-app) for Specific Health Guidance on Weight Changes in Adults With Obesity and Hypertension: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Article
- Hijacked Brain in Modern Obesity: Cue, Habit, Addiction, Emotion, and Restraint as Targets for Personalized Digital Therapy and Electroceuticals.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2025Review
- Impacts of Behavioral Compliance on Weight-Loss and Metabolic Profile in a Smartphone App-Based Lifestyle Intervention or Plus Dietitian Supporting: A Randomized and Controlled Trial Among Chinese.Phenomics (Cham, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Clinical Service Incorporating Mobile Technology on Weight Loss in Patients With Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease: A Translation From Research Trial.Endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism · 2024Article
- Effective management of sedentary behavior among Indian university students: An empirical exploration into health-related behavior.Journal of education and health promotion · 2024Article
- The Efficacy of an mHealth App in Facilitating Weight Loss Among Japanese Fitness Center Members: Regression Analysis Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- The Effectiveness of eHealth Interventions for Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults with Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.Current obesity reports · 2023Review
- Effects of a Smartphone App on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Saudi Adolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2023Article
- Strategies to improve the implementation of intensive lifestyle interventions for obesity.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Development of "LvL UP 1.0": a smartphone-based, conversational agent-delivered holistic lifestyle intervention for the prevention of non-communicable diseases and common mental disorders.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmartphone apps have shown potential in enhancing weight management in Western populations in the short to medium term. With a rapidly growing obesity burden in Asian populations, researchers are turning to apps as a service delivery platform to reach a larger target audience to efficiently address the problem.
objectiveThis systematic review and meta-analysis aims to determine the efficacy of interventions that incorporate apps in facilitating weight loss and health behavior change in the Asian population.
methodsA total of 6 databases were searched in June 2020. The eligible studies included controlled trials in which an app was used in the intervention. The participants were aged 18 years or older and were of Asian ethnicity. A meta-analysis to test intervention efficacy, subgroup analyses, and post hoc analyses was conducted to determine the effects of adding an app to usual care and study duration. The primary outcome was absolute or percentage weight change, whereas the secondary outcomes were changes to lifestyle behaviors.
resultsA total of 21 studies were included in this review, and 17 (81%) were selected for the meta-analysis. The pooled effect size across 82% (14/17) of the randomized controlled trials for weight change was small to moderate (Hedges g=-0.26; 95% CI -0.41 to -0.11), indicating slightly greater weight loss achieved in the intervention group; however, this may not be representative of long-term studies (lasting for more than a year). Supplementing multicomponent usual care with an app led to greater weight loss (Hedges g=-0.28; 95% CI -0.47 to -0.09). Asian apps were largely culturally adapted and multifunctional, with the most common app features being communication with health professionals and self-monitoring of behaviors and outcomes.
conclusionsMore evidence is required to determine the efficacy of apps in the long term and address the low uptake of apps to maximize the potential of the intervention. Future research should determine the efficacy of each component of the multicomponent intervention to facilitate the designing of studies that are most effective and cost-efficient for weight management.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42020165240; https://tinyurl.com/2db4tvn6.
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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.