BACKGROUND
Advances in mobile communication technologies in the field of health have led to numerous relevant studies. One of the criteria indicating the quality of the previously published studies is the number of citations. Therefore, investigating the features of highly cited articles and identifying the most frequently used mobile technological interventions can be important in developing future studies.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed at identifying 100 cited interventional articles on mobile health.
METHODS
The database employed in this study was the Web of Science, which without limitations was analyzed in September 2019 to identify 100 highly cited interventional studies in the field of mobile health. The identified studies were classified based on the number of citations, year of publication, country of the first author, type of disease, and use of mobile technology.
RESULTS
A great majority of the studies in the field of interventional mobile health focused on obesity (n=18), addiction (n=15), diabetes (n=11) and mental health disorders (n=11), respectively. Many studies employed mobile technologies to promote lifestyle (weight loss and increased physical activity) (n=21), disease control (n=19), and treatment adherence (n=18). The mean number of citations per study was 140±94. The most cited study was in the category of viral disease treatment adherence (n=679), and the most cited articles were published in 2012.
CONCLUSIONS
Among the reviewed 100 studies, many of the interventional studies regarding mobile health focused on obesity, addiction, diabetes and mental health disorders. Text messaging service was used as intervention in most of the studies. Thus, future studies may focus on the use of mobile interventions for less reported diseases and investigate the impact of various mobile technologies on disease prevention, control, and treatment.
CLINICALTRIAL
Non applicable