Mobile App-based Interventions for Patients with Noncommunicable Diseases in Japan: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) emerged as a persistent challenge to be addressed globally. The use of mobile apps has increased and their effectiveness -alongside the effectiveness of traditional face-to-face interventions -has been reported for patients with NCDs. However, there exist no integrated studies of mobile app-based interventions for patients with NCDs in Japan, and the current status and challenges remain unclear. Therefore, in order to provide a basis for developing mobile app-based education and intervention for patients with NCDs in Japan, this review aimed to identify and overview the status of mobile app-based interventions for patients with NCDs in Japan. The PubMed, Scopus, and Ichushi-Web electronic databases were searched for reports published till March 29, 2023, without language restrictions. The study characteristics, the intervention's main results, and the app content were extracted and synthesized. A total of 814 reports were identified, of which 8 ultimately met the inclusion criteria. The app content included self-monitoring, goal setting, counseling, education, feedback, and others. The findings revealed that intervention improved patients' clinical parameters and medication adherence. As the theory related to behavior change has not been used to design interventions in most studies, developing theory-based interventions is required in the future.