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Mobile health: a promising tool for the management of male patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases volume 26, pages 712–714 (2023)Cite this article

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Mobile health (mHealth) has been defined by the Global Observatory for eHealth of the World Health Organization as “medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants, and other wireless devices” [1]. It is considered by many authors as a key tool for the implementation of patient-centered care and has been widely adopted in many countries worldwide [1]. Typically, mHealth involves the adoption of smartphone applications that may assist in the diagnosis, monitoring and/or treatment of health conditions. The main goal of mHealth is to facilitate and make more efficient patient care, reducing time and costs related to diagnosis and treatment. The COVID-19 pandemic represented a relevant “stress test” for the capabilities of mHealth and has greatly favored its development. Nowadays, growing evidence supports the use of mHealth in a wide range of urological conditions.

Patients suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH) represent a promising clinical setting for the adoption of mHealth technologies Preliminary evidence exist demonstrating its role in administering questionnaires, tracking symptoms, providing information/education, and monitoring side effects of treatments (Table 1).

Table 1 Available studies investigating mobile health in male patients suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia.
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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, (IT), Italy

    Massimiliano Creta & Nicola Longo

  2. Department of Woman, Child and General and Specialized Surgery, University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, Naples, (IT), Italy

    Celeste Manfredi, Davide Arcaniolo, Marco De Sio & Ferdinando Fusco

  3. Department of Urology, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, (IT), Italy

    Cosimo De Nunzio

Authors
  1. Massimiliano Creta
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  2. Celeste Manfredi
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  3. Davide Arcaniolo
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  4. Marco De Sio
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  5. Nicola Longo
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  6. Cosimo De Nunzio
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  7. Ferdinando Fusco
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Contributions

FF, CM and MC: conceptualization and supervision; NL, CDN, MDS and DA: writing.

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Correspondence to Massimiliano Creta.

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Creta, M., Manfredi, C., Arcaniolo, D. et al. Mobile health: a promising tool for the management of male patients with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis 26, 712–714 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41391-023-00649-3

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