The Role of Mobile Health Technology in Perioperative Spinal Care: A Systematic Scoping Review and Narrative Synthesis.

Abstract

Smartphone applications play a crucial role in contemporary healthcare by aiming to enhance patient care through technology. Mobile health (mHealth) applications have proven to have transformative potential in enhancing patients' outcomes in candidates undergoing orthopedic and spinal surgery.In the context of the pervasive use of smartphones and the exponential growth of mHealth apps,totaling over 99,000 in 2021, the applications had a significant impact on lifestyle management,supporting initiatives like smoking cessation with motivational reminders and progress tracking. Patientcompliance is significantly enhanced, reducing surgery cancellations and improving outcomes througheffective adherence to pre-operative treatments and instructions. Physiotherapy receives a substantialboost as mHealth facilitates video-guided exercises, potentially improving compliance and treatmentoutcomes. Data collection takes on innovative dimensions, with mHealth apps capturing post-operativemetrics like physical activity, offering valuable insights into patient recovery trends. Remote care isstreamlined through features like photo uploads and direct messaging, proving especially beneficial intimes of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these merits, challenges emerge, includingissues related to technological literacy, potential discrimination due to paywalls, and concerns aboutpatient data confidentiality. Overcoming these challenges requires standardized approaches, legislativemeasures, and ongoing research to refine and optimize mHealth applications for diverse healthcaresettings.