Background Mobile app-assisted self-care interventions are emerging promising tools to support self-care of patients with chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension. The effectiveness of such interventions requires further exploration for more supporting evidence. Objective A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted to examine the effectiveness of mobile app-assisted self-care interventions developed for type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension in improving patient outcomes. Methods We followed the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and searched MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and CINAHL Plus for relevant studies published between January 2007 and January 2019. Primary outcomes included changes in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Changes in other clinical-, behavioral-, knowledge-, and psychosocial-related outcomes were included as secondary outcomes. Primary outcomes and objective secondary outcomes that were reported in at least two trials were meta-analyzed; otherwise, a narrative synthesis was used for data analysis. Results A total of 27 trials were identified and analyzed. For primary outcomes, the use of mobile app-assisted self-care interventions was associated with significant reductions in HbA1c levels (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.44, 95% CI −0.59 to −0.29; P<.001), SBP (SMD −0.17, 95% CI −0.31 to −0.03, P=.02), and DBP (SMD −0.17, 95% CI −0.30 to −0.03, P=.02). Subgroup analyses for primary outcomes showed that several intervention features were supportive of self-management, including blood glucose, blood pressure, and medication monitoring, communication with health care providers, automated feedback, personalized goal setting, reminders, education materials, and data visualization. In addition, 8 objective secondary outcomes were meta-analyzed, which showed that the interventions had significant lowering effects on fasting blood glucose levels and waist circumference. A total of 42 secondary outcomes were narratively synthesized, and mixed results were found. Conclusions Mobile app-assisted self-care interventions can be effective tools for managing blood glucose and blood pressure, likely because their use facilitates remote management of health issues and data, provision of personalized self-care recommendations, patient–care provider communication, and decision making. More studies are required to further determine which combinations of intervention features are most effective in improving the control of the diseases. Moreover, evidence regarding the effects of these interventions on the behavioral, knowledge, and psychosocial outcomes of patients is still scarce, which warrants further examination.

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The tunability, high power and flexible picoseconds-pulse time structure of terahertz (THz) radiation make the THz free-electron laser (FEL) a very attractive THz source of coherent radiation. This paper focuses on the development and perspectives of THz radiation sources based on the FEL. The principles of the low gain THz FEL oscillator, the SASE THz FEL amplifier and the supperradiant THz FEL are reviewed briefly, and the key technologies of THz FEL, such as injector, accelerator, undulator and optical cavity, are discussed, respectively. The current status of and future prospects for THz radiation sources based on the FEL are emphasized in this paper. Recent research and development have shown bright future in free-electron laser (FEL) THz radiation sources. The potential applications can be carried out in the field of imaging, material research, biology medicine, communication, diagnostics and many others.

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