ArticleBMJ open2023
Use of geofencing interventions in population health research: a scoping review.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- A Geospatially Customizable Culturally Tailored Just-in-Time Adaptive Intervention for Violence-Affected People Living With HIV: Mixed Methods Acceptability, Feasibility, and User Experience Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Hyper-Local, Place-Based Strategies to Increase PrEP Uptake Among Black Sexual Minority Men in Alabama.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Geospatial Approaches to HIV Care: a Scoping Review of Asset Mapping.Current HIV/AIDS reports · 2026Article
- Reference and Solution Architecture for GenAI- and GIS-Enhanced Physical Activity Interventions: Towards Implementing the AI4Motion Platform.Journal of medical systems · 2025Article
- Geosocial-networking App Use Among Men who Have Sex with Men in High HIV Community Viral Load Areas of Baltimore City.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- Neighborhood Factors as Correlates of Alcohol Use in the N2 Cohort Study of Black Sexually Minoritized Men and Transgender Women.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2025Article
- Deceptively Simple yet Profoundly Impactful: Text Messaging Interventions to Support Health.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Review
- Neighborhood Factors as Correlates of Alcohol Use in the N2 Cohort Study of Black Sexual Minority Men and Transgender Women.Research square · 2024Article
- Leveraging Ecological Momentary Assessment Data to Characterize Individual Mobility: Exploratory Pilot Study in Rural Uganda.JMIR formative research · 2024Article
- Examination of multidimensional geographic mobility and sexual behaviour among Black cisgender sexually minoritized men in Chicago.Geospatial health · 2024Article
- Integrating health geography and behavioral economic principles to strengthen context-specific behavior change interventions.Translational behavioral medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTechnological advancements that use global positioning system (GPS), such as geofencing, provide the opportunity to examine place-based context in population health research. This review aimed to systematically identify, assess and synthesise the existing evidence on geofencing intervention design, acceptability, feasibility and/or impact.
designScoping review, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidance for reporting. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane and PsycINFO for articles in English published up to 31 December 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Articles were included if geofencing was used as a mechanism for intervention delivery. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: (1) a component or combination of GPS, geographical information system or ecological momentary assessment was used without delivery of an intervention; (2) did not include a health or health-related outcome from the geofencing intervention; or (3) was not a peer-reviewed study. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Several researchers independently reviewed all abstracts and full-text articles for final inclusion.
resultsA total of 2171 articles were found; after exclusions, nine studies were included in the review. The majority were published in 5 years preceding the search (89%). Geofences in most studies (n=5) were fixed and programmed in the mobile application carried by participants without their input. Mechanisms of geofencing interventions were classified as direct or indirect, with five studies (56%) using direct interventions. There were several different health outcomes (from smoking to problematic alcohol use) across the five studies that used a direct geofencing intervention.
conclusionsThis scoping review found geofencing to be an emerging technology that is an acceptable and feasible intervention applied to several different populations and health outcomes. Future studies should specify the rationale for the locations that are geofenced and user input. Moreover, attention to mechanisms of actions will enable scientists to understand not only whether geofencing is an appropriate and effective intervention but why it works to achieve the outcomes observed.
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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.