Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39882497›Full record

ArticleBulletin of the World Health Organization2025

A scoping review and expert consensus on digital determinants of health.

Robin van Kessel, Laure-Elise Seghers, Michael Anderson, Nienke M Schutte, Giovanni Monti, Madeleine Haig, Jelena Schmidt, George Wharton, Andres Roman-Urrestarazu, Blanca Larrain and 44 more

Abstract readScoping ReviewConsensus Statement
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  13. Ethical Considerations in Personal Health Large Language Models.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

54 authors.

Robin van KesselLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Laure-Elise SeghersLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Michael AndersonLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Nienke M SchutteInnovation in Health Information Systems Unit, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
Giovanni MontiLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Madeleine HaigLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Jelena SchmidtDepartment of International Health, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Kingdom of the Netherlands.
George WhartonLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Andres Roman-UrrestarazuDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
Blanca LarrainDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
Yoann SapanelInstitute of Digital Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Louisa StüweDigital Health Delegation for Digital Health, Ministry of Labour, Health and Solidarities, Paris, France.
Agathe BourbonneuxDigital Health Delegation for Digital Health, Ministry of Labour, Health and Solidarities, Paris, France.
Junghee YoonDepartment of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Mangyeong LeeDepartment of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Ivana PaccoudLuxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, Université du Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.
Liyousew BorgaLuxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, Université du Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.
Njide NdiliPharmAccess Foundation Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria.
Eric SutherlandParis, France.
Marelize GörgensHealth, Nutrition and Population Global Practice, World Bank Group, WashingtonDC, United States of America (USA).
Eva WeickenFraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich Hertz Institut, Berlin, Germany.
Megan CoderDigital Medicine Society, Boston, USA.
Heimar de Fatima MarinDepartment of Biomedical and Data Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA.
Elena ValMigration Health Division, International Organization for Migration Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the EU and NATO, Brussels, Belgium.
Maria Cristina ProfiliMigration Health Division, International Organization for Migration Regional Office for the European Economic Area, the EU and NATO, Brussels, Belgium.
Monika KosinskaDepartment of Social Determinants of Health, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Christine Elisabeth BrowneWHO European Venice Office for Investment for Health and Development, Venice, Italy.
Alvin MarceloMedical Informatics Unit, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines.
Smisha AgarwalDepartment of International Health, The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.
Monique F MrazekInternational Finance Corporation, World Bank Group, WashingtonDC, USA.
Hani EskandarDigital Services Division, International Telecommunications Union, Geneva, Switzerland.
Roman ChestnovDigital Services Division, International Telecommunications Union, Geneva, Switzerland.
Marina SmelyanskayaHIV and Health Group, United Nations Development Programme Europe and Central Asia, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Karin KällanderUnited Nations Children's Fund, New York, USA.
Stefan ButtigiegMinistry for Health and Active Ageing, Valletta, Malta.
Kirthi RameshAsian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines.
Louise HollyDigital Transformations for Health Lab, Geneva, Switzerland.
Andrzej RysHealth Systems, Medical Products and Innovation, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium.
Natasha Azzopardi-MuscatLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Jerome de BarrosLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Yuri QuintanaLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Antonio SpinaLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Adnan A HyderLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Alain LabriqueLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Maged N Kamel BoulosLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Wen ChenLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Anurag AgrawalLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Juhee ChoDepartment of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Jochen KluckenLuxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, Université du Luxembourg, Belvaux, Luxembourg.
Barbara PrainsackLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Ran BalicerLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Ilona KickbuschDigital Transformations for Health Lab, Geneva, Switzerland.
David Novillo-OrtizLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.
Elias MossialosLSE Health, Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, London, England.

Funding

World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To map how social, commercial, political and digital determinants of health have changed or emerged during the recent digital transformation of society and to identify priority areas for policy action. Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science on 24 September 2023, to identify eligible reviews published in 2018 and later. To ensure we included the most recent literature, we supplemented our review with non-systematic searches in PubMed® and Google Scholar, along with records identified by subject matter experts. Using thematic analysis, we clustered the extracted data into five societal domains affected by digitalization. The clustering also informed a novel framework, which the authors and contributors reviewed for comprehensiveness and accuracy. Using a two-round consensus process, we rated the identified determinants into high, moderate and low urgency for policy actions. Findings: We identified 13 804 records, of which 204 met the inclusion criteria. A total of 127 health determinants were found to have emerged or changed during the digital transformation of society (37 digital, 33 social, 33 commercial and economic and 24 political determinants). Of these, 30 determinants (23.6%) were considered particularly urgent for policy action. Conclusion: This review offers a comprehensive overview of health determinants across digital, social, commercial and economic, and political domains, highlighting how policy decisions, individual behaviours and broader factors influence health by digitalization. The findings deepen our understanding of how health outcomes manifest within a digital ecosystem and inform strategies for addressing the complex and evolving networks of health determinants.

Indexed as

Digital TechnologySocial Determinants of HealthConsensusHealth PolicyHumansPolitics

Identifiers

PMID39882497
PMCPMC11774227

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.