Mobile Health Application-Based Interventions to Improve Self-management of Chemotherapy-Related Symptoms Among People with Breast Cancer Who Are Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been an increasing number of studies on using mobile health (mHealth) to support the symptom self-management of patients with breast cancer (BC). However, the components of such programs remain unexplored. This systematic review aimed to identify the components of existing mHealth app-based interventions for patients with BC who are undergoing chemotherapy and to uncover self-efficacy enhancement elements from among them. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted for randomized controlled trials published from 2010 to 2021. Two strategies were used to assess the mHealth apps: The Omaha System, a structured classification system for patient care, and Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, which assesses sources of influence that determine an individual’s confidence in being able to manage a problem. Intervention components identified in the studies were grouped under the 4 domains of the intervention scheme of the Omaha System. Four hierarchical sources of self-efficacy enhancement elements were extracted from the studies using Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. RESULTS: The search uncovered 1,668 records. Full-text screening was conducted on 44 articles, and 5 randomized controlled trials (n = 537 participants) were included. Self-monitoring under the domain of “Treatments and procedure” was the most frequently used mHealth intervention for improving symptom self-management in patients with BC undergoing chemotherapy. Most mHealth apps used various “mastery experience” strategies including reminders, self-care advice, videos, and learning forums. CONCLUSION: Self-monitoring was commonly utilized in mHealth-based interventions for patients with BC undergoing chemotherapy. Our survey uncovered evident variation in strategies to support self-management of symptoms and standardized reporting is required. More evidence is required to make conclusive recommendations related to mHealth tools for BC chemotherapy self-management.