School of Nursing, 6057Nipissing University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
School of Nursing, 26453Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.
Health Informatics J. 2023 Jan-Mar;29(1):14604582231164697. doi: 10.1177/14604582231164697.
The purpose of this systematic review is to summarize the potential effects of the WeChat and WhatsApp mobile applications in cancer management. This systematic review was written in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. CINAHL, PubMed, ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Database, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and ERIC were utilized for the literature search. Articles were included if they evaluated the outcomes of using WeChat/WhatsApp for cancer management, and excluded if they were qualitative studies, not published in peer-reviewed journals, protocols for a future study, or conference abstracts. 20 studies were included in this systematic review, with a total sample of 3110 participants. Interventions were utilized to share educational information with participants, follow-up after surgical operations, and in clinical communication. Outcomes, including pain, medication adherence, self-efficacy, quality of life, and depression, were statistically significantly improved in the WeChat/WhatsApp intervention groups in comparison to the control groups or to baseline measurements of the study participants. Outcomes of sleep and rehospitalization rate were improved without reaching statistical significance. Outcomes of anxiety, fatigue, and adverse drug reactions were found to be conflictive among included studies. This systematic review suggested that use of WeChat/WhatsApp on cancer management might improve various physical and psychosocial health outcomes among oncological patients. Limitations of the study include solely reviewing English language articles published in academic journals and most of the studies being from one country. Future research should be conducted in various countries among diverse communities, including rural areas, to ascertain the effects of WeChat/WhatsApp in different populations.
本系统评价的目的是总结微信和 WhatsApp 移动应用在癌症管理中的潜在影响。本系统评价是按照 PRISMA 指南编写的。我们在 CINAHL、PubMed、ProQuest 护理与健康专业数据库、PsycINFO、PsycARTICLES 和 ERIC 中进行了文献检索。如果文章评估了使用微信/WhatsApp 进行癌症管理的结果，则将其纳入；如果文章是定性研究、非同行评审期刊发表、未来研究方案或会议摘要，则将其排除。本系统评价共纳入 20 项研究，共有 3110 名参与者。干预措施用于向参与者分享教育信息、手术后随访以及临床沟通。与对照组或研究参与者的基线测量相比，微信/WhatsApp 干预组的疼痛、药物依从性、自我效能、生活质量和抑郁等结局均有统计学显著改善。睡眠和再入院率的结局有所改善，但未达到统计学意义。纳入研究中焦虑、疲劳和药物不良反应的结局存在冲突。本系统评价表明，在癌症管理中使用微信/WhatsApp 可能会改善肿瘤患者的各种生理和心理社会健康结局。研究的局限性包括仅回顾发表在学术期刊上的英文文章，且大多数研究来自一个国家。未来的研究应在不同国家的不同社区进行，包括农村地区，以确定微信/WhatsApp 在不同人群中的效果。
