SynthesisPloS one2022
Mobile applications in medical education: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 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
78 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Content and structural needs assessment for an artificial intelligence education mobile app in healthcare: a mixed methods study.BMC medical education · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Low-cost, Technology-enhanced Simulation Training for Healthcare Training in Low-and Middle-income Countries (LMICs): A Systematic Literature Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Identifying Research Priorities in Digital Education for Health Care: Umbrella Review and Modified Delphi Method Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- One decade of "English as a medium of instruction" (EMI) in healthcare education.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Pooled it
- The Use of mHealth Apps for the Assessment and Management of Diabetes-Related Foot Health Outcomes: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Effectiveness of a digital game based study guide on head trauma assessment on knowledge and practical skills of nursing students: a quasi-experimental study.BMC medical education · 2025Trial
- The effect of an interactive game-based e-book with simulative clinical scenarios on the health literacy competency among medical students in Taiwan.BMC medical education · 2025Trial
- Development of a mobile application for wound severity detection and modern dressing selection.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence, Wearable Technologies, and Virtual Reality in Precision Nutrition and Obesity Management: A Critical Narrative Review.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of mobile application versus intranet-based posting for pressure ulcer education in nurses: a randomised controlled trial.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- A Smartphone App-based Malignant Hematology Curriculum for Internal Medicine Residents: A Pilot Study.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2026Article
- Building Expertise Across Borders: The IAEA's Expanding Digital Education in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Interactive mHealth Applications for Caregiver Training in Urinary Catheterization: A Scoping Review.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Review
- App-Based Cardiology Education for Pediatric Residents.Pediatric cardiology · 2026Article
- A mobile-based educational tool for training medical students in emergency trauma management: development and pilot study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Advancing dental education with technology: The integration of smartphone applications in endodontics-A narrative review.International endodontic journal · 2026Review
- How do senior pharmacy students at King Saud University perceive their pharmaceutical calculation skills and preparedness for clinical practice?Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2026Article
- Who will keep patients safe? The largest multi-centre survey of healthcare students exposes critical gaps in radiation safety education.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- Usage patterns, perceived barriers and perceived impact of mobile medical applications in medical education and clinical practice: a cross-sectional study among medical students and junior doctors in Sudan.BMC medical education · 2026Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis review evaluates the effectiveness of smartphone applications in improving academic performance and clinical practice among healthcare professionals and students.
methodsThis study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Articles were retrieved from PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane library through a comprehensive search strategy. Studies that included medical, dental, nursing, allied healthcare professional, undergraduates, postgraduates, and interns from the same disciplines who used mobile applications for their academic learning and/or daily clinical practice were considered.
results52 studies with a total of 4057 learner participants were included in this review. 33 studies (15 RCTs, 1 cluster RCT, 7 quasi-experimental studies, 9 interventional cohort studies and 1 cross-sectional study) reported that mobile applications were an effective tool that contributed to a significant improvement in the knowledge level of the participants. The pooled effect of 15 studies with 962 participants showed that the knowledge score improved significantly in the group using mobile applications when compared to the group who did not use mobile applications (SMD = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.57 to1.31, P<0.00001). 19 studies (11 RCTs, 3 quasi-experimental studies and 5 interventional cohort studies) reported that mobile applications were effective in significantly improving skills among the participants.
conclusionMobile applications are effective tools in enhancing knowledge and skills. They can be considered as effective adjunct tools in medical education by considering their low expense, high versatility, reduced dependency on regional or site boundaries, online and offline, simulation, and flexible learning features of mobile apps.
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.