Abstract
Background: Achieving adequate amounts of physical activity (PA) confers important physical and mental health benefits. Despite this, individuals with mental health conditions often do not meet recommended levels of PA. eHealth, the delivery of health information through internet and mobile technologies, is an emerging concept in healthcare which presents opportunities to improve PA in people with mental conditions. The aim of this systematic review is to explore if eHealth interventions increase PA levels among individuals with mental health conditions. Methods: Databases searched included OVID Medline, EMBASE, PsychInfo and Web of Science using a combination of key-words and medical subject headings. Articles were included if they described an eHealth intervention designed to improve PA in individuals with mental health conditions. Two reviewers screened articles for inclusion. Results: In total 2,994 articles were identified. Seven studies met the eligibility criteria. A variety of eHealth platforms designed to increase PA were described in these studies; web-based (n=4), web and mobile application (n=3) and e-mail-based (n=1), one study used both a web-based and mobile application. Three studies reported eHealth intervention significantly increased PA levels. Four studies reported that higher levels of PA resulted in improvements in mental health outcomes. Conclusion: eHealth interventions may be an innovative low cost method to increase PA levels which may have knock-on effects on mental health outcomes. Although some of the included studies in this review demonstrated promising results, methodological restrictions and potential biases from using subjective measures of PA limit the interpretability of these results. Future research should evaluate this nascent technology using well designed trials.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) is associated with a number of health related benefits such as improved cardiovascular health, bone strength, and a reduced risk of developing chronic conditions such as colorectal and breast cancers, cardiovascular disease, and Type II diabetes[1,2]
Glozier and colleagues reported a greater proportion of participants with mild-moderate depression (n=487) engaging in the recommended levels of physical activity (≥150 mins a week) who performed internet based cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) compared to the control group (67% in ICBT vs 61% in control group, Odds Ratio: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.01–3.61)
Glozier and colleagues noted a greater proportion of participants achieved the recommended levels of physical activity (≥150 mins a week) in favour of the e-health intervention compared to the control group (67% in ICBT vs 61% in control group, Odds Ratio: 1.91, 95% CI: 1.01–3.61)
Summary
Physical activity (PA) is associated with a number of health related benefits such as improved cardiovascular health, bone strength, and a reduced risk of developing chronic conditions such as colorectal and breast cancers, cardiovascular disease, and Type II diabetes[1,2]. Systematic review evidence has consistently supported the effectiveness of eHealth interventions to increase PA levels. EHealth, the delivery of health information through internet and mobile technologies, is an emerging concept in healthcare which presents opportunities to improve PA in people with mental conditions. The aim of this systematic review is to explore if eHealth interventions increase PA levels among individuals with mental health conditions. Articles were included if they described an eHealth intervention designed to improve PA in individuals with mental health conditions. Three studies reported eHealth intervention significantly increased PA levels. Four studies reported that higher levels of PA resulted in improvements in mental health outcomes. Conclusion: eHealth interventions may be an innovative low cost method to increase PA levels which may have knock-on effects on mental health outcomes. Some of the included studies in this review demonstrated promising results, methodological restrictions and potential biases from using subjective measures of PA version 3 (revision)
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