Digital Health in Schools: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Worldwide, the growing digitalization process and increase in smartphone usage have contributed to promoting mobile health (mHealth) services. This study provides an overview of the research targeting the effectiveness of mHealth interventions among children and adolescents in the school environment. A systematic literature review was performed following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) in the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. The results show that physical activity and nutrition are the main intervention topics. Health literacy, mental health, productive health, vaccination rates, and social interaction were also considered in mHealth interventions. Of the 13 studies that remained for analysis, 12 described positive outcomes in at least one health variable after using an mHealth tool. Overall, interventions ranged between four and 24 weeks. Only seven studies managed to have at least 80% of the participants from the baseline until completion. Adding personal information, user interaction, and self-reference comparisons of performance seems crucial for designing successful health digital tools for school-aged children and adolescents.

The Use of Wearable Technologies in the Assessment of Physical Activity in Preschool- and School-Age Youth: Systematic Review

“…The use of these devices to promote the gamification of the practice of PA should be encouraged and promoted using dedicated apps for mobile phones or tablets. A lot of systematic reviews have been published in recent years related to the subject of this review, where the authors [ 73 ] found that the PA level is also influenced by the students’ friends’ PA level, demonstrating that team sports and community life can increase the PA level, promoting the reduction of the obesity-related problems. Another study also verified that using Fitbit devices may benefit increasing the level of PA during recreational activities [ 74 ].…”