SynthesisInternational journal of medical informatics2022
Empowerment through technology: A systematic evaluation of the content and quality of mobile applications to empower individuals with cancer.
Synthesis in International journal of medical informatics, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Effectiveness of Patient-Centered Digital Empowerment Programs in Hematological Cancer Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Worldviews on evidence-based nursing · 2025Pooled it
- Interactive digital tools to support empowerment of people with cancer: a systematic literature review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Mobile-Based Application Interventions to Enhance Cancer Control and Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.International journal of public health · 2023Pooled it
- Mobile application to support oncology patients during treatment on patient outcomes: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial.Cancer medicine · 2023Trial
- Extending the Information Systems Success Model to Explain E-Health Adoption in Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Digital Symptom Reporting for Treatment Readiness Before Daratumumab: A Blinded Prospective Study in Multiple Myeloma.Hematology reports · 2026Article
- Extended reality in supporting cancer patients and survivors: A systematic review on the benefits and challenges across the cancer care continuum.Future healthcare journal · 2026Review
- Digital bridges: How mobile applications foster social relationships for patients living with cancer.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Review
- A Mobile App (Concerto) to Empower Hospitalized Patients in a Swiss University Hospital: Development, Design, and Implementation Report.JMIR medical informatics · 2024Article
- Digital Therapeutics for Improving Effectiveness of Pharmaceutical Drugs and Biological Products: Preclinical and Clinical Studies Supporting Development of Drug + Digital Combination Therapies for Chronic Diseases.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- A smartphone app to improve the safety of patients undergoing treatment with oral antineoplastic agents: 4 years of experience in a university hospital.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Leveraging mobile fitness apps for healthier lifestyles: How affordances drive sustained engagement.Digital healthArticle
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.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveGreater emphasis on patient empowerment has led to a plethora of mobile health applications aimed at empowering patients with cancer. However, the rigor and evidence of these apps are rarely acknowledged. This systematic review of patient empowerment apps describes the characteristics, quality, heuristics, and evidence supporting these apps. MATERIALS AND
methodsWe identified commercially available apps through the Apple and Google Play stores using patient- and research-derived conceptualizations of patient empowerment. Three authors used the Mobile App Rating Scale, heuristics, readability, user ratings, and evidence to evaluate the apps' foci, features, and quality. App characteristics were summarized with descriptive analyses.
resultsTwelve apps met the eligibility criteria and were analyzed. Apps' content focused on enhancing communication skills (n = 10, 83.3%), social support (n = 8, 66.7%), information about cancer and treatment (n = 8, 66.7%), and peer-to-peer support (n = 5, 41.7%). The mean objective (3.9 ± 0.5 out of 5) and subjective (3.7 ± 1.0 out of 5) quality scores were moderate to high. Most heuristics were not violated, and the mean reading level was 10th grade, which is above the recommended 8th grade level. Four apps had been evaluated in published research articles. DISCUSSION: The contents of patient empowerment apps varied greatly, and the readability was exclusionary to the average reader. Apps.
conclusionPatient empowerment apps should be more rigorously designed and tested to ensure the apps are usable and beneficial to diverse groups of cancer survivors.
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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.