Is mHealth a useful therapy for improving physical or emotional health in adolescents with cystic fibrosis? A systematic review

Abstract

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare disease that severely compromises health and interferes with the lives of those who suffer from it and is especially challenging in adolescence. The use of tools such as MHealth may benefit the physical and psychological health of adolescents with CF. Therefore, this study aims to examine the benefits of MHealth in adolescents with CF through a systematic review. A search of the scientific literature following the PRISMA guidelines was conducted in the ProQuest Central, PubMed, Web Of Science, Embase and ínDICE databases, resulting in 186 studies, of which seven were selected (based on inclusion and exclusion criteria). Two blinded evaluators conducted the searches, the selection and data extraction process and the quality evaluation of the studies. The agreement between evaluators was excellent in all cases (Kappa ranged from .78 to .96). 214 pediatric CF patients (61.71% female) participated in the final analysis. The mean age was 12.76 years. The studies evaluated different types of mHealth tools, with greater homogeneity in the independent and dependent variables. The quality of the studies analyzed was poor, since these had small samples selected for convenience, conducted non-experimental and low-quality designs, recorded few variables, and their statistical analyses were not sufficiently robust. Further research is needed in this field, improving research designs and considering physical and psychological adjustment variables, as well as patients and family members in the process of health improvement.

Experiences Among Patients With Cystic Fibrosis in the MucoExocet Study of Using Connected Devices for the Management of Pulmonary Exacerbations: Grounded Theory Qualitative Research

“…Although a recent review of the literature [ 36 ] on the use of mobile devices (phones, patient monitoring devices, digital assistants, and other wireless devices) by patients with CF has shown medical, psychological, and behavioral benefits as well as benefits in terms of level of satisfaction with care, the psychological aspect has thus far received little attention, as is the case with the educational dimension of technological devices. In adolescence, although the disease significantly influences the development of one’s body image and self-concept [ 37 ], the integration of new technologies into self-care leads to a new understanding of oneself and, therefore, to a potentially modified relationship with one’s body, health, and illness.…”

Virtual monitoring in CF – the importance of continuous monitoring in a multi-organ chronic condition

“…Pilot data from these studies also demonstrate that the online CF-CBT program was both feasible and acceptable ( 27 ). In addition to the sparsity of available research for this CF focus, a systematic review in 2021 investigating mHealth apps for CF emotional and physical health concluded that current available research was of low quality due to small sample sizes, limited to pilot studies, and with homogeneity in data ( 28 ).…”