Guessi Margarido Milena, Shah Amika, Seto Emily
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA, Canada.
Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Techna Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, CA, Canada.
NPJ Digit Med. 2022 Mar 21;5(1):33. doi: 10.1038/s41746-022-00567-z.
Mobile-health applications can be used to deliver timely and personalized health information to family and friends of chronically ill adults living in the community. This scoping review aims to investigate the nature and extent of native smartphone applications for informal caregivers. Six databases were searched for articles on applications across ten chronic conditions, namely heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic obstructive respiratory disease, asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease or other dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension, and mood or anxiety disorders. In total, 36 articles were included, encompassing 26 applications. Of these, smartphone applications were designed for use only by caregivers (n = 15), with a few applications also intended to be used with patients (n = 5), healthcare providers (n = 4), or all three roles (n = 2). Most applications targeted a single chronic condition (n = 25), with Alzheimer's and other dementia being the most common (n = 18). Only one application was designed for management of multiple chronic conditions. Long-term evaluation methods are needed to continually assess the impact of applications on a range of process and health outcomes, such as usability, caregiver burden, and quality of life. Additional directions to advance native smartphone applications for caregivers are discussed, including personalization and expansion of eligibility criteria.
移动健康应用程序可用于向居住在社区的慢性病成年人的家人和朋友提供及时且个性化的健康信息。本范围综述旨在调查面向非正式照护者的原生智能手机应用程序的性质和范围。我们在六个数据库中搜索了关于十种慢性病应用程序的文章，这十种慢性病分别是心脏病、中风、癌症、慢性阻塞性呼吸道疾病、哮喘、糖尿病、阿尔茨海默病或其他痴呆症、类风湿性关节炎、高血压以及情绪或焦虑障碍。总共纳入了36篇文章，涵盖26个应用程序。其中，智能手机应用程序专为照护者设计（n = 15），少数应用程序也供患者（n = 5）、医疗服务提供者（n = 4）或所有三个角色（n = 2）使用。大多数应用程序针对单一慢性病（n = 25），阿尔茨海默病和其他痴呆症最为常见（n = 18）。只有一个应用程序是为管理多种慢性病而设计的。需要长期评估方法来持续评估应用程序对一系列过程和健康结果的影响，如可用性、照护者负担和生活质量。我们还讨论了推进面向照护者的原生智能手机应用程序的其他方向，包括个性化和扩大资格标准。
