SynthesisJMIR mHealth and uHealth2025
Comparative Effectiveness of Digital Health Technologies in Tuberculosis Treatment: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Synthesis in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The role of digital health interventions for adults with tuberculosis: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Developing an integrated medication event monitoring system and smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment delivery platform to identify real-time factors influencing TB treatment adherence in South Africa.Journal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2026Article
- Conversational mHealth Platform Designed to Support Tuberculosis Treatment Adherence in Low-Income South African Patients: Pilot Cohort Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- HIV/AIDS in the state of Amazonas, Brazilian Amazon: decentralization, third-party support and community action.Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical · 2026Review
- Alleviating psychosocial distress in drug-resistant tuberculosis: a pre-post study on telephone-delivered motivational interviewing.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis (TB) treatment remains a critical global health challenge, as traditional standard of care (SoC) approaches face limitations in accessibility and efficacy. While digital health technologies (DHTs) offer promising solutions to address these gaps, limited evidence exists on their comparative effectiveness. Objective: This study systematically evaluates and compares the impact of diverse DHTs on improving TB treatment outcomes and adherence, aiming to identify optimal strategies across different patient populations. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and Web of Science from database inception through February 28, 2025, with no language restrictions. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials comparing DHTs with SoC for TB treatment. The primary outcome was treatment success, defined as completion or cure. A random-effects network meta-analysis was performed, calculating odds ratios (OR) and 95% credibility intervals (CrI) to assess treatment effects. Surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) values were used to rank intervention effectiveness. This study is registered with PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews; CRD42025601199). Results: From 2420 screened studies, 27 randomized controlled trials involving 23,283 patients and eight DHT interventions were included. The network meta-analysis revealed that digital health platforms showed marginal improvements in treatment success (OR=3.44; 95% CrI 0.95-11.67; SUCRA=0.913; P=.05). Compared with SoC, video directly observed treatment (VDOT) significantly improved treatment success (OR=2.39; 95% CrI 1.18-4.75; SUCRA=0.848; P=.01). Medication event reminder monitors significantly enhanced treatment adherence (OR=3.13; 95% CrI 1.55-7.05; SUCRA=0.891; P=.003). Conclusions: Results underscore the significant potential of DHTs to improve TB treatment management. VDOT emerged as the most effective intervention for enhancing treatment success, while medication event reminder monitors demonstrated efficacy in sustaining adherence. Digital health platforms showed promise but require additional validation. Caution is warranted due to potential heterogeneity across studies, which may affect generalizability. This research offers actionable insights for stakeholders aiming to optimize TB management through strategic DHT integration.
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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.