A scoping review of digital health interventions for cardiovascular diseases in the WHO South-East Asia region

Abstract

Digital health interventions for managing Non-Communicable Diseases, specifically cardiovascular diseases, are gaining momentum in Low-Middle-Income countries (LMICs), notably in the South-East Asia region. The effective implementation of these interventions hinges on their ability to effectively cater to user needs within the healthcare system. Our objective is to examine the usage of digital health approaches or modalities. A scoping review was conducted using PUBMED and SCOPUS databases, and the findings were synthesized narratively using the WHO’s Digital Health Intervention (DHI) framework. The initial search yielded 1,505 articles, of which 51 met our inclusion criteria. In terms of the target users for digital health applications, providers remain the major focus, while other stakeholders such as data managers and health system managers remain neglected. Even within “provider-focused” applications, telemedicine dominates in the functionality aspect. Further, few applications addressed client issues such as client-to-client communication, personal health tracking, and the client’s financial transactions. Few applications address the needs of data managers and health system managers. Moving forward, member countries in South-East Asia would benefit from digital health applications that specifically target data services and health system managers. For clients, functionalities such as personal health tracking, active data capture, citizen-based reporting, on-demand information services, and peer groups are required. For healthcare providers, features such as access to longitudinal client health records, decision support systems, referral coordination, prescription, and medication management, as well as laboratory and diagnostic imaging management, should be seamlessly integrated into existing digital health applications.