02352nas a2200373 4500000000100000008004100001653001100042653003600053653003400089653003500123653007000158653001600228653003900244653002400283653005000307653006400357653003000421653002400451653003800475653001200513653002400525653004300549653001900592100001700611700001900628700002300647700001700670245012400687250001500811300001100826490000600837520110800843020002701951 2014 d10aHumans10aQuality Indicators, Health Care10aHealth Services Accessibility10aDeveloping Countries/economics10aCardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis/economics/epidemiology/ therapy10aCell Phones10aComparative Effectiveness Research10aComputers, Handheld10aDelivery of Health Care, Integrated/economics10aDiabetes Mellitus/diagnosis/economics/epidemiology/ therapy10aElectronic Health Records10aMobile Applications10aPatient Acceptance of Health Care10aPoverty10aQuality Improvement10aTelemedicine/economics/instrumentation10aText Messaging1 aMogulluru K.1 aJohnson Claire1 aPraveen Devarsetty1 aPeiris David00aUse of mHealth systems and tools for non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review a2014/09/12 a677-910 v73 a

With the rapid adoption of mobile devices, mobile health (mHealth) offers the potential to transform health care delivery, especially in the world's poorest regions. We systematically reviewed the literature to determine the impact of mHealth interventions on health care quality for non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries and to identify knowledge gaps in this rapidly evolving field. Overall, we found few high-quality studies. Most studies narrowly focused on text messaging systems for patient behavior change, and few studies examined the health systems strengthening aspects of mHealth. There were limited literature reporting clinical effectiveness, costs, and patient acceptability, and none reporting equity and safety issues. Despite the bold promise of mHealth to improve health care, much remains unknown about whether and how this will be fulfilled. Encouragingly, we identified some registered clinical trial protocols of large-scale, multidimensional mHealth interventions, suggesting that the current limited evidence base will expand in coming years.

 a1937-5395 (Electronic)