Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39786841›Full record

SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2025

Effectiveness of Integrated Digital Solutions to Empower Older Adults in Aspects Related to Their Health: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Ana Isabel Martins, Óscar Ribeiro, Gonçalo Santinha, Telmo Silva, Nelson P Rocha, Anabela G Silva

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Ana Isabel MartinsCenter for Health Technology and Services Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-5220-0528
Óscar RibeiroDepartment of Education and Psychology, Center for Health Technology and Services Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0003-4740-7951
Gonçalo SantinhaDepartment of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, Research Unit in Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-4732-5959
Telmo SilvaDepartment of Communication and Art, DigiMedia, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0001-9383-7659
Nelson P RochaDepartment of Medical Sciences, Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0003-3801-7249
Anabela G SilvaSchool of Health Sciences, Center for Health Technology and Services Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-4386-5851

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDigital solutions, such as mobile apps or telemonitoring devices, are frequently considered facilitators in the process of empowering older adults, but they can also act as a source of digital exclusion or disempowerment if they are not adequate for older adults' needs and characteristics.

objectiveThis study aimed to synthesize and critically evaluate existing evidence on the effectiveness of integrated digital solutions that enable interaction for empowering older adults in aspects related to their health and to explore potential factors (eg, type of technology, participants' characteristics) impacting effectiveness.

methodsA systematic search was carried out in PubMed, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, EBSCO, and SciELO using a combination of terms informed by previous reviews on empowerment. Screening of references was performed against predefined inclusion criteria. Data extraction and the methodological quality of included studies using the PEDro (Physiotherapy Evidence Database) scale were performed by 2 authors. The certainty of evidence was graded for the main comparisons and outcomes of the review using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) framework. When at least 3 studies were available within the same domain of empowerment (knowledge, support by others, capacities, and behaviors) and comparison group, a meta-analysis was performed.

resultsA total of 30 manuscripts were included in the review. Regarding knowledge, there was very low certainty of evidence of a medium effect size (ES) favoring the digital intervention group (k=5, ES=0.40, 95% CI 0.07-0.73, I

conclusionsThere is very-low-to-low certainty of evidence that using integrated digital solutions results in increased knowledge and increased capacities (mainly self-efficacy) when compared to usual care and impacts capacities to an extent similar to face-to-face interventions at postintervention. Interestingly, results also suggest, with low certainty of evidence, that there are no differences between using digital solutions and no intervention for improving capacities. Included studies and technologies were diverse, and meta-analysis showed high heterogeneity, which limits the confidence in the results and suggests that further research might affect the conclusions of this review.

trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42022346823; https://tinyurl.com/39k29pzc.

Indexed as

EmpowermentMobile ApplicationsAgedHumansTelemedicineappsdigital healthdigital solutionseffectivenessempowermentevaluatehealth relatedmeta-analysismHealthmobile healtholder adultsoutcomessynthesizesystematic review

Identifiers

PMID39786841
PMCPMC11757982

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.