Personalization in digital health interventions for older adults with cancer: A scoping review. 2023

Misun Hwang, and Yun Jiang
University of Michigan School of Nursing, MI, USA. Electronic address: misunh@umich.edu.

Digital health interventions (DHIs) are promising to support older adults with cancer in managing their conditions and improving their health outcomes. However, there is a lack of overall understanding of various DHIs for the aging population with cancer. Specifically, it is unclear how personalization components are included in those DHIs to promote engagement in the interventions among older adults with cancer. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of existing DHIs for older adults with cancer and identify the intervention components, especially personalized features, and effectiveness of these DHIs for improving self-management and psychosocial health. A scoping review was conducted following Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, focusing on older adults diagnosed with cancer who participated in DHIs to improve self-management and psychosocial health. Studies using an experimental design and published from 2000 to January 2023 were retrieved from four databases: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus. After primary data extraction of study characteristics, participants, interventions, and outcomes, DHIs were categorized according to personalized features. Out of 9,750 articles, 20 were eligible for this scoping review. The main personalized features of DHIs were categorized into four domains: goal setting, adjusting the plan, data-driven approaches, and motivating behavioral changes. Self-management outcomes were focused on physical activity, diet, and symptom management. Quality of life, depression, and anxiety were addressed as psychosocial health-related outcomes. Although no consistent results were reported on the effectiveness, DHIs with a combination of multiple personalized features, more than three domains, were likely to be more effective in improving self-management outcomes. This review enhances the understanding of personalized DHIs for older adults with cancer by identifying intervention components, personalized features, and effectiveness on self-management and psychosocial health. Several gaps were identified, including the absence of targeted studies exclusively focusing on older adults, a relative scarcity of personalized features for improving patient engagement, a lack of understanding of the mechanism of effective personalized features, and the necessity for more experimental studies. Addressing these gaps can contribute to improving health outcomes and the quality of care for older adults with cancer by providing the direction for developing effective DHIs.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009369 Neoplasms New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms. Benign Neoplasm,Cancer,Malignant Neoplasm,Tumor,Tumors,Benign Neoplasms,Malignancy,Malignant Neoplasms,Neoplasia,Neoplasm,Neoplasms, Benign,Cancers,Malignancies,Neoplasias,Neoplasm, Benign,Neoplasm, Malignant,Neoplasms, Malignant
D011788 Quality of Life A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral, social environment as well as health and disease. HRQOL,Health-Related Quality Of Life,Life Quality,Health Related Quality Of Life
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D001007 Anxiety Feelings or emotions of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS. Angst,Anxiousness,Hypervigilance,Nervousness,Social Anxiety,Anxieties, Social,Anxiety, Social,Social Anxieties
D015444 Exercise Physical activity which is usually regular and done with the intention of improving or maintaining PHYSICAL FITNESS or HEALTH. Contrast with PHYSICAL EXERTION which is concerned largely with the physiologic and metabolic response to energy expenditure. Aerobic Exercise,Exercise, Aerobic,Exercise, Isometric,Exercise, Physical,Isometric Exercise,Physical Activity,Acute Exercise,Exercise Training,Activities, Physical,Activity, Physical,Acute Exercises,Aerobic Exercises,Exercise Trainings,Exercise, Acute,Exercises,Exercises, Acute,Exercises, Aerobic,Exercises, Isometric,Exercises, Physical,Isometric Exercises,Physical Activities,Physical Exercise,Physical Exercises,Training, Exercise,Trainings, Exercise

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