Journal List > Asian Oncol Nurs > v.17(3) > 1081898

Chung, Oh, and Song: Mobile Health for Breast Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of smart health care service in the breast cancer patients through a systematic review.

Methods

For the study, 10 studies were selected by using PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, CINAHL, RISS4U, KISS, DBpia and the National Assembly Library. The Risk of Bias Assessment Tool was used by two reviewers to evaluate independently the quality of the selected articles.

Results

10 studies for the analysis of the effect of smart health care service using mobile applications on breast cancer patients since 2000 were found. The purpose of mobile based intervention was to check whether post-operative outpatient follow up could be substituted with mobile apps to measure and monitor weight loss or weight management, sleep, mood, depression and mental state, exercise, uncertainty management and feedback.

Conclusion

Although mobile research is still limited, it may be sufficient to monitor the symptoms of breast cancer patients and to provide dietary and exercise interventions. This study suggests that various mobile apps can be used for breast cancer patients in various situations. Future study is recommended for repeated intervention studies on the effect of apps.

Figures and Tables

Fig 1

Flow chart of study selection process.

aon-17-133-g001
Table 1

Risk of Bias for RCT & NRCT

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Categories Domain Risk of bias
Unclear Low High
Randomized controlled trial studies18,19,20) Random sequence generation 1 1 1
Allocation concealment - 3 -
Blinding of participants and personnel 1 2 -
Blinding of outcome assessment 1 2 -
Incomplete outcome data - 3 -
Selective reporting - 3 -
Other bias - 3 -
Non randomized controlled trial studies21,22,23,24,25,26) Selection of participants - 1 5
Confounding variables 6 - -
Measurement of exposure - 6 -
Blinding of the outcome assessments - 6 -
Incomplete outcome data - 6 -
Selective outcome reporting (reporting bias) - 6 -

RCT= Randomized Controlled Trial; NRCT= Non-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Table 2

General Characteristics of Studies

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No Author Study design Setting Subject Age Cancer stage Tx Sample size Intervention Interventio duration Time of measurement App. Type Measurement
Exp. Cont. T
17 Armstrong et al (2014) Survey Canada BC Mobile App F/U VS In-person F/U mobile app (QoC Health Inc) cost
18 Kearney et al (2009) RCT UK BC, LC, CRC Undergoing chemo-therapy 29 29 58 Mobile management of chemotherapy related symptoms 12~16 weeks After intervention ASyMS chemotherapy related symptoms
19 Uhm et al (2016) RCT Korea BC 50 0~IV Survivors 167 172 356 Home-based program of aerobic and resistance exercises. 12 weeks At baseline, 6 week, 12 week mHealth (Smart after care) Physical measurement, PA, QOL, user satisfaction
20 Egbring et al (2016) RCT Swiss BC 53 Undergoing chemo-therapy app 45 app & physician 41 physician 41 127 Physician VS App VS App and Physician 3 OPD visits 1, 21, 42 days, after intervention mobile app daily functional activity, symptoms
21 Youn et al (2013) Pilot study Korea BC 47 I~III (T 1~3 N 0~1 M 0) Receiving chemo-therapy 9 Measuring daily QoL through mobile application 1 months After intervention Dugun Dugun sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety
22 Sim (2016) Feasibility and reliability study Korea BC 44 Receiving chemo-therapy 42 Mobile application measuring depression 1 years Before operation 1 time, after operation 2 times Pit a Pat sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety, depression
23 Jeong (2014) NRCT Korea BC 50 0~II Survivors 13 14 27 App-based uncertainty intervention program 8 weeks Immediately after intervention Uncertainty Intervention Program Symptom, Social Support, Uncertainty
24 Min et al (2014) Feasibility study Korea BC 45 with meta-stasis Receiving chemo-therapy 30 Data VS a smartphone App 3 months Baseline, after intervention Pit a Pat sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety, compliance
25 Kim et al (2016) NRCT Korea BC 44 - 78 Daily mental-health ratings collect 48 weeks After intervention Pit a Pat sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety
26 Quintiliani et al (2016) Pilot and feasibility test Boston BC 59 Survivors 10 Mobile health-supported behavioral counseling intervention for weight management 10 weeks After intervention mHealth (Fit bit app) BW, diet, PA

No= Reference number.; BC= Breast cancer; LC= Lung cancer; CRC= Colorectal cancer; OPD= Outpatient department; PA= Physical activity; QoL= Quality of life; BW= Body weight; UK= United kingdom; RCT= Randomized controlled trial; NRCt= Non-randomized controlled trial; Tx= Treatment ; Exp.= Experimental group; Cont.= Control group; App.= Application; F/U= Follow-up; VS= Versus; Qoc= Quality of care; ASyMS= Advanced symptom management system.

Table 3

General Characteristics of Application

aon-17-133-i003
App. Type Measurement Development country Development Year Intervention Appendix
Mobile App (QoC Health Inc)17) Cost Canada QoC Health Inc. 2014 Support postoperative care
ASyMS18) Chemotherapy related symptoms UK (six Scotland/one England) Before the Study Management system (ASyMS©) on the incidence, severity and distress of six chemotherapy-related symptoms (nausea, vomiting, fatigue, mucositis, handfoot syndrome and diarrhoea) in patients with lung, breast or colorectal cancer
mHealth ‘smart after care19) Physical measurement, PA, QOL, user satisfaction Korea BIT Computer Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea 2016 Governmental projects, Home health care services for gastric, colon cancer patient who receive chemotherapy after surgery
The App let know patient what to do, diet control.
http://www.monews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=94764
mobile app20) Daily functional activity, symptoms Switzerland Before the Study A novel open-source mobile and Web app to record daily functional activity and adverse events. app was made available in the Apple and Google Android stores free of charge
Dugun Dugun21) Sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety Korea 2012 Data collection of sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety and depression screening A mobile application named ‘Dugun-Dugun’ (Pit a pat) was Developed by the Asan Medical Center, Department of Mental Health and Breast Endocrine Surgery and U-health team to evaluate the quality of life for breast cancer patients.
Uncertainty Intervention Program23) Symptom, social support, uncertainty Korea 2013 Data collection of diet, exercise, pain Language used in the apps program : PHP 5.2.16, jQuery 1.7.2, javascript
Development tools : NetBeans 7.1, Photoshop CS5
Web browser test :IE7, IE8, IE9, FireFox, Chrome, Safari
Pit a Pat22,24,25) Sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety, compliance Korea 2012 Data collection of sleep satisfaction, mood, anxiety and depression screening =DugunDugun
mHealth (Fit bit app)26) Body weight, diet, physical activity Fitbit, Inc. Before the Study Set and manage goals such as number of steps, distance, and calories during the day Manage weight while checking calorie intake per day through the food record https://www.fitbit.com/kr/devices

App.= Application; Qoc= Quality of care; ASyMS= Advanced symptom management system; UK= United kingdom; PA= Physical activity; QoL= Quality of life; BIT= Business information technology; PHP= Personal home page; CS= Creative suite; IE= Internet explorer.

Notes

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (No. 2015R1D1A1A01061493).

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TOOLS
ORCID iDs

Bok Yae Chung
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2511-1829

Eun Hee Oh
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9313-5489

Su Jeong Song
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1524-0077

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