School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.
Health and Wellbeing Priority Research Area, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
BMJ Sex Reprod Health. 2021 Apr;47(2):90-101. doi: 10.1136/bmjsrh-2019-200488. Epub 2020 Apr 6.
There has been a phenomenal worldwide increase in the development and use of mobile health applications (mHealth apps) that monitor menstruation and fertility. Critics argue that many of the apps are inaccurate and lack evidence from either clinical trials or user experience. The aim of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the research literature on mHealth apps that track menstruation and fertility.
This project followed the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews. The ACM, CINAHL, Google Scholar, PubMed and Scopus databases were searched for material published between 1 January 2010 and 30 April 2019. Data summary and synthesis were used to chart and analyse the data.
In total 654 records were reviewed. Subsequently, 135 duplicate records and 501 records that did not meet the inclusion criteria were removed. Eighteen records from 13 countries form the basis of this review. The papers reviewed cover a variety of disciplinary and methodological frameworks. Three main themes were identified: fertility and reproductive health tracking, pregnancy planning, and pregnancy prevention.
Motivations for fertility app use are varied, overlap and change over time, although women want apps that are accurate and evidence-based regardless of whether they are tracking their fertility, planning a pregnancy or using the app as a form of contraception. There is a lack of critical debate and engagement in the development, evaluation, usage and regulation of fertility and menstruation apps. The paucity of evidence-based research and absence of fertility, health professionals and users in studies is raised.
全球范围内移动医疗应用程序（mHealth 应用程序）的开发和使用呈爆炸式增长，这些应用程序可用于监测月经和生育情况。批评者认为，许多应用程序不够准确，缺乏临床试验或用户体验方面的证据。本范围综述的目的是概述跟踪月经和生育情况的 mHealth 应用程序的研究文献。
本项目遵循 PRISMA 扩展的范围审查。ACM、CINAHL、Google Scholar、PubMed 和 Scopus 数据库检索了 2010 年 1 月 1 日至 2019 年 4 月 30 日期间发表的材料。使用数据摘要和综合分析图表和分析数据。
共审查了 654 条记录。随后，删除了 135 条重复记录和 501 条不符合纳入标准的记录。来自 13 个国家的 18 份记录构成了本综述的基础。综述涵盖了各种学科和方法框架的论文。确定了三个主要主题：生育和生殖健康跟踪、妊娠计划和妊娠预防。
生育应用程序使用的动机多种多样，随着时间的推移而重叠和变化，尽管女性希望应用程序准确且基于证据，无论她们是在跟踪生育能力、计划怀孕还是将应用程序用作避孕形式。在生育和月经应用程序的开发、评估、使用和监管方面缺乏批判性辩论和参与。研究中缺乏基于证据的研究，也缺乏生育、健康专业人员和用户。
