Comprehensive overview of computer-based health information tailoring: a systematic scoping review

Abstract

ObjectivesTo explore the scope of the published literature on computer-tailoring, considering both the development and the evaluation aspects, with the aim of identifying and categorising main approaches and detecting research gaps, tendencies and trends.SettingOriginal researches from any country and healthcare setting.ParticipantsPatients or health consumers with any health condition regardless of their specific characteristics.MethodA systematic scoping review was undertaken based on the York’s five-stage framework outlined by Arksey and O’Malley. Five leading databases were searched: PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, EBSCO and IEEE for articles published between 1990 and 2017. Tailoring concept was investigated for three aspects: system design, information delivery and evaluation. Both quantitative (ie, frequencies) and qualitative (ie, theme analysis) methods have been used to synthesis the data.ResultsAfter reviewing 1320 studies, 360 articles were identified for inclusion. Two main routes were identified in tailoring literature including public health research (64%) and computer science research (17%). The most common facets used for tailoring were sociodemographic (73 %), target behaviour status (59%) and psycho-behavioural determinants (56%), respectively. The analysis showed that only 13% of the studies described the tailoring algorithm they used, from which two approaches revealed: information retrieval (12%) and natural language generation (1%). The systematic mapping of the delivery channel indicated that nearly half of the articles used the web (57%) to deliver the tailored information; printout (19%) and email (10%) came next. Analysis of the evaluation approaches showed that nearly half of the articles (53%) used an outcome-based approach, 44% used process evaluation and 3% assessed cost-effectiveness.ConclusionsThis scoping review can inform researchers to identify the methodological approaches of computer tailoring. Improvements in reporting and conduct are imperative. Further research on tailoring methodology is warranted, and in particular, there is a need for a guideline to standardise reporting.

Optimising Web-Based Computer-Tailored Physical Activity Interventions for Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Randomised Controlled Trial Examining the Impact of Website Architecture on User Engagement

“…In brief, a computer-tailored program algorithmically maps a unique combination of messages to an individual. The personalised messages are based on pre-measured behavioural, psychological, medical or demographical characteristics [14].…”

“…One under studied area is the impact of program architecture of computer-tailored websites. Traditional computer-tailored web-based interventions use 'tunnelling' techniques [14,18]. Tunnelled programs provide small packages of information in a set order delivered over time to avoid overwhelming the participant and to guide them through the behaviour change process.…”

Measuring psychological constructs in computer-tailored interventions: novel possibilities to reduce participant burden and increase engagement

“…Over 360 computer-tailoring studies have been conducted to date by researchers across health and computer sciences (Ghalibaf et al, 2019). Psychological constructs have been measured in approximately 60% of these studies, predominantly via questionnaires (91%), diaries or other written records (8%) (Ghalibaf et al, 2019).…”

“…Selection of tailoring variables covering psychological constructs has typically been based on underlying theories guiding the intervention development. The Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska & Velicer, 1997), Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986), the Health Belief Model (Rosenstock, 1974) and the Reasoned Action Approach (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010) have been the most commonly used theories (Ghalibaf et al, 2019). Resultantly, constructs like stage of change, self-efficacy, perceived benefits and barriers, and goals have been some of the most commonly used tailoring variables (Broekhuizen et al, 2012; see supplementary material).…”

La educación con un sitio multimedia en combinación con la terapia nutricia mejora el estilo de vida y la HbA1c en diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Estudio clínico cuasiexperimental

“…Las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en salud (TICs) han sido utilizadas en las dos últimas décadas para brindar educación, atención nutricional y promoción de la salud en enfermedades crónicas, incluida la DT2 12,13 .…”