SynthesisBMC public health2020
Key facets to build up eHealth and mHealth interventions to enhance physical activity, sedentary behavior and nutrition in healthy subjects - an umbrella review.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
45 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 83 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital Interventions Targeting Parents to Improve Early Childhood Movement, Nutrition, and Sleep Behaviors: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Usability Assessment Methods for Mobile Apps for Physical Rehabilitation: Umbrella Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions for Behavior Change in Physiological Health Outcomes and the Use Case for Knee Osteoarthritis: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of mHealth App-Based Interventions for Increasing Physical Activity and Improving Physical Fitness in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Effective Behavior Change Techniques in Digital Health Interventions for the Prevention or Management of Noncommunicable Diseases: An Umbrella Review.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Multicomponent Interventions in Office-Based Workers to Mitigate Occupational Sedentary Behavior: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2023Pooled it
- Blended Care Interventions to Promote Physical Activity: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports medicine - open · 2022Pooled it
- mHealth Interventions to Reduce Physical Inactivity and Sedentary Behavior in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- The Tridirectional Relationship among Physical Activity, Stress, and Academic Performance in University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- A Refined Mobile Health Intervention (SMARTFAMILY2.0) to Promote Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in a Family Setting: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- An mHealth Intervention Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in a Family Setting (SMARTFAMILY): Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Trial
- Effects of a Web-Based Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Loss and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Adults With Overweight and Obesity: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Evaluation of an Interactive Web-Based Health Program for Weight Loss-A Randomized Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Trial
- The past, present and future use of technology-enabled physical activity interventions in clinical and non-clinical populations: a bibliometric trend analysis across four decades.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Review
- Effectiveness of Gamification Interventions to Improve Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.JMIR serious games · 2025Review
- Health Promotion and Digital Tools: Analysis of Consumer Demands.Yonago acta medica · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of workplace interventions for health promotion.The Lancet. Public health · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundElectronic (eHealth) and mobile (mHealth) health interventions can provide a large coverage, and are promising tools to change health behavior (i.e. physical activity, sedentary behavior and healthy eating). However, the determinants of intervention effectiveness in primary prevention has not been explored yet. Therefore, the objectives of this umbrella review were to evaluate intervention effectiveness, to explore the impact of pre-defined determinants of effectiveness (i.e. theoretical foundations, behavior change techniques, social contexts or just-in-time adaptive interventions), and to provide recommendations for future research and practice in the field of primary prevention delivered via e/mHealth technology.
methodsPubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library were searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (reviews) published between January 1990 and May 2020. Reviews reporting on e/mHealth behavior change interventions in physical activity, sedentary behavior and/or healthy eating for healthy subjects (i.e. subjects without physical or physiological morbidities which would influence the realization of behaviors targeted by the respective interventions) were included if they also investigated respective theoretical foundations, behavior change techniques, social contexts or just-in-time adaptive interventions. Included studies were ranked concerning their methodological quality and qualitatively synthesized.
resultsThe systematic search revealed 11 systematic reviews and meta-analyses of moderate quality. The majority of original research studies within the reviews found e/mHealth interventions to be effective, but the results showed a high heterogeneity concerning assessment methods and outcomes, making them difficult to compare. Whereas theoretical foundation and behavior change techniques were suggested to be potential positive determinants of effective interventions, the impact of social context remains unclear. None of the reviews included just-in-time adaptive interventions.
conclusionFindings of this umbrella review support the use of e/mHealth to enhance physical activity and healthy eating and reduce sedentary behavior. The general lack of precise reporting and comparison of confounding variables in reviews and original research studies as well as the limited number of reviews for each health behavior constrains the generalization and interpretation of results. Further research is needed on study-level to investigate effects of versatile determinants of e/mHealth efficiency, using a theoretical foundation and additionally explore the impact of social contexts and more sophisticated approaches like just-in-time adaptive interventions.
trial registrationThe protocol for this umbrella review was a priori registered with PROSPERO: CRD42020147902 .
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.