Abstract
Background: Mobile technology has grown at an exceptional rate and is now a huge part of our daily living. This use of mobile technology has opened up new possibilities in treating health, with almost half of the current applications linked to the mHealth sector. In particular, dietary measurement, applications have become very accessible and very popular. As dietary issues have become more prevalent, more mobile and mHealth applications offer various solutions. This systematic review aims to address if the use of such mobile applications or mobile health technology can improve diet quality in adults that interact with them. Methods: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and non-randomised controlled trials (NRCTs) will be conducted. The Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (Cinahl), The American Psychological Association’s (APA Psycinfo), and PubMed will be searched from January 2010 to November 2021. Primary outcomes will include identifying if adults who use mobile applications and health technology improve their diet quality compared to adults who do not use this technology. Study selection will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and MetaAnalyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The methodological appraisal of the studies will be assessed independently by two different reviewers (AS and JR) using the Cochrane Risk-of-Bias Tool for RCTs and the Risk-of Bias In Non-Randomised Studies Tool for NRCTs. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not essential for this systematic review. Only data from studies that are publically available from previously published studies will be used. The findings of this systematic review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant conferences. PROSPERO registration: CRD42021240224 (01/03/2021).
Highlights
A healthy, varied, and balanced diet is integral in the promotion of health and wellbeing[1]
Research investigating the value of diet quality has indicated that improving diet quality shows a more significant reduction in chronic disease[2]
While there is a variety of research available which highlights the benefits of mobile applications to improve diet related and patient outcomes, none to date have examined the impact of mobile applications on the quality of food consumed
Summary
A healthy, varied, and balanced diet is integral in the promotion of health and wellbeing[1]. Much research has been conducted to determine methods to measure diet quality, which has led to the development of a number of indices These indices allow for the evaluation of dietary patterns appraising the selection of specific foods, compliance with nutritional recommendations, and chronic disease risk. Mobile devices and applications have been reported to improve patient and client health with noticeable improvement in diet and dietary behaviour[22,23] Such applications benefit behaviour by offering an ‘early warning system’ to allow individuals self-monitor their diet daily. While there is a variety of research available which highlights the benefits of mobile applications to improve diet related and patient outcomes, none to date have examined the impact of mobile applications on the quality of food consumed. To investigate associations between the use of mobile applications and dietary outcomes changes in (a) diet quality and, (b) weight status
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