Table 2 Characteristics of individual studies included in the 24 systematic reviews

From: An umbrella review of efficacy of digital health interventions for workers

Variable

Physical activity

Sedentary behavior

Physiological

All

Study design

All

Study design

All

Study design

RCTsa

Non-RCTsb

RCTsa

Non-RCTsb

RCTsa

Non-RCTsb

n

108

83

25

50

39

11

65

52

13

Country, n (%)

 North America

41 (38)

29 (35)

12 (48)

12 (24)

8 (21)

4 (36)

24 (37)

16 (31)

8 (62)

 Europe

39 (36)

34 (41)

5 (20)

22 (44)

21 (54)

1 (9.1)

20 (31)

19 (37)

1 (7.7)

 Oceania

16 (15)

12 (14)

4 (16)

13 (26)

8 (21)

5 (45)

6 (9.2)

5 (9.6)

1 (7.7)

 Asia

9 (8.3)

6 (7.2)

3 (12)

2 (4.0)

2 (5.1)

0 (0)

13 (20)

11 (21)

2 (15)

 Africa

1 (0.9)

1 (1.2)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

1 (1.5)

1 (1.9)

0 (0)

 Others

2 (1.9)

1 (1.2)

1 (4.0)

1 (2.0)

0 (0)

1 (9.1)

1 (1.5)

0 (0)

1 (7.7)

Total sample size, n

 Median (IQRc)

141 (67, 305)

153 (79, 306)

86 (47, 298)

93 (46, 278)

133 (47, 273)

49 (46, 185)

185 (97, 421)

193 (102, 425)

137 (50, 368)

 Range

10, 69,219

10, 3,876

18, 69,219

10, 69,219

10, 800

20, 69,219

18, 135,931

22, 2,470

18, 135,931

Sample size of intervention group, n (%)

 <50

40 (37)

31 (37)

9 (36)

25 (50)

19 (49)

6 (55)

17 (26)

14 (27)

3 (23)

 50–300

53 (49)

43 (52)

10 (40)

19 (38)

17 (44)

2 (18)

36 (55)

31 (60)

5 (38)

 >300

15 (14)

9 (11)

6 (24)

6 (12)

3 (7.7)

3 (27)

12 (18)

7 (13)

5 (38)

Percentage of females, n (%)

 <60%

45 (42)

35 (42)

10 (40)

15 (30)

12 (31)

3 (27)

29 (45)

25 (48)

4 (31)

 >=60%

63 (58)

48 (58)

15 (60)

35 (70)

27 (69)

8 (73)

35 (54)

27 (52)

8 (62)

 NR

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

1 (1.5)

0 (0)

1 (7.7)

Dropout rate in intervention group(s), n (%)

 <25%

55 (51)

46 (55)

9 (36)

22 (44)

18 (46)

4 (36)

37 (57)

31 (60)

6 (46)

 25% to 50%

30 (28)

22 (27)

8 (32)

17 (34)

12 (31)

5 (45)

18 (28)

14 (27)

4 (31)

 >50%

11 (10)

6 (7.2)

5 (20)

6 (12)

4 (10)

2 (18)

2 (3.1)

1 (1.9)

1 (7.7)

 Not reported

12 (11)

9 (11)

3 (12)

5 (10)

5 (13)

0 (0)

8 (12)

6 (12)

2 (15)

Dropout rate in control group(s), n (%)

 <25%

52 (48)

50 (60)

2 (8.0)

23 (46)

21 (54)

2 (18)

32 (49)

31 (60)

1 (7.7)

 25–50%

19 (18)

18 (22)

1 (4.0)

11 (22)

11 (28)

0 (0)

12 (18)

12 (23)

0 (0)

 >50%

6 (5.6)

5 (6.0)

1 (4.0)

2 (4.0)

2 (5.1)

0 (0)

2 (3.1)

2 (3.8)

0 (0)

 Not reported

10 (9.3)

9 (11)

1 (4.0)

5 (10)

5 (13)

0 (0)

8 (12)

6 (12)

2 (15)

 No control

21 (19)

1 (1.2)

20 (80)

9 (18)

0 (0)

9 (82)

11 (17)

1 (1.9)

10 (77)

Duration of intervention, months

 Median (IQRc)

3.0 (2.0, 5.0)

3.0 (2.1, 6.0)

2.0 (2.0, 3.8)

3.0 (2.0, 3.9)

3.0 (2.0, 3.2)

3.0 (2.0, 5.5)

3.5 (3.0, 6.0)

4.0 (3.0, 6.0)

3.0 (2.0, 3.6)

 Range

0.2, 18.0

0.2, 18.0

0.5, 12.0

0.2, 12.0

0.2, 12.0

1.5, 12.0

1.0, 36.0

1.0, 36.0

1.0, 6.0

 (Missing)

2

0

2

      

Duration of follow-up, months

 Median (IQRc)

3.2 (2.0, 6.0)

3.2 (2.5, 6.5)

3.2 (2.0, 6.0)

3.2 (2.1, 6.4)

3.0 (2.0, 7.0)

6.0 (3.1, 6.3)

6 (3, 6)

6 (3, 10)

6 (3, 6)

 Range

0.2, 36.0

0.2, 36.0

0.5, 12.0

0.2, 12.0

0.2, 12.0

1.5, 12.0

1, 36

1, 36

2, 7

d-Health use, n (%)

94 (87)

72 (87)

22 (88)

44 (88)

35 (90)

9 (82)

57 (88)

45 (87)

12 (92)

m-Health use, n (%)

47 (44)

34 (41)

13 (52)

20 (40)

14 (36)

6 (55)

31 (48)

24 (46)

7 (54)

Multi-element use, n (%)

73 (68)

56 (67)

17 (68)

30 (60)

23 (59)

7 (64)

40 (62)

31 (60)

9 (69)

Focus of intervention (%)

 Multi focus

33 (31)

25 (30)

8 (32)

6 (12)

2 (5.1)

4 (36)

42 (65)

33 (63)

9 (69)

 Single focus

75 (69)

58 (70)

17 (68)

44 (88)

37 (95)

7 (64)

23 (35)

19 (37)

4 (31)

Focus on PAd/SBe, n (%)

108 (100)

83 (100)

25 (100)

50 (100)

39 (100)

11 (100)

63 (97)

50 (96)

13 (100)

Focus on Diet/Nutrition, n (%)

33 (31)

25 (30)

8 (32)

6 (12)

2 (5.1)

4 (36)

44 (68)

35 (67)

9 (69)

Focus on others, n (%)

17 (16)

13 (16)

4 (16)

1 (2.0)

0 (0)

1 (9.1)

24 (37)

18 (35)

6 (46)

Combination of off-line intervention, n (%)

59 (55)

47 (57)

12 (48)

34 (68)

27 (69)

7 (64)

39 (60)

33 (63)

6 (46)

Use of incentives, n (%)

16 (15)

11 (13)

5 (20)

6 (12)

4 (10)

2 (18)

7 (11)

5 (9.6)

2 (15)

Comparison typesf, n (%)

 d-Health vs. no intervention

43 (40)

39 (47)

4 (16)

25 (50)

23 (59)

2 (18)

27 (42)

25 (48)

2 (15)

 d-Health vs. non-d-Health

17 (16)

16 (19)

1 (4.0)

6 (12)

6 (15)

0 (0)

17 (26)

16 (31)

1 (7.7)

 d-Health vs. other d-Health

24 (22)

24 (29)

0 (0)

9 (18)

9 (23)

0 (0)

8 (12)

8 (15)

0 (0)

 Others

4 (3.7)

4 (4.8)

0 (0)

1 (2.0)

1 (2.6)

0 (0)

3 (4.6)

3 (5.8)

0 (0)

 No control

20 (19)

0 (0)

20 (80)

9 (18)

0 (0)

9 (82)

10 (15)

0 (0)

10 (77)

PAd/SBe measurement, n (%)

 Objective

42 (39)

34 (41)

8 (32)

27 (54)

22 (56)

5 (45)

NA

NA

NA

 Subjective

50 (46)

39 (47)

11 (44)

11 (22)

9 (23)

2 (18)

NA

NA

NA

 Both

16 (15)

10 (12)

6 (24)

12 (24)

8 (21)

4 (36)

NA

NA

NA

 Not measured

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

NA

NA

NA

Total number of PAd/SBe metrics measured, n

 Median (IQRc)

2.00 (1.00, 4.00)

2.00 (1.00, 4.00)

2.00 (1.00, 4.00)

2.00 (1.00, 4.75)

3.00 (1.00, 5.00)

2.00 (1.00, 2.00)

NA

NA

NA

 Range

1.00, 16.00

1.00, 14.00

1.00, 16.00

1.00, 11.00

1.00, 11.00

1.00, 9.00

NA

NA

NA

Risk of bias in primary studies, n (%)

 Low

17 (16)

13 (16)

4 (16)

6 (12)

6 (15)

0 (0)

18 (28)

16 (31)

2 (15)

 Some concerns

31 (29)

26 (31)

5 (20)

14 (28)

10 (26)

4 (36)

13 (20)

12 (23)

1 (7.7)

 High

48 (44)

36 (43)

12 (48)

27 (54)

21 (54)

6 (55)

23 (35)

18 (35)

5 (38)

 Not reported

12 (11)

8 (9.6)

4 (16)

3 (6.0)

2 (5.1)

1 (9.1)

11 (17)

6 (12)

5 (38)

ITTg analysis, n (%)

 Yes

41 (38)

35 (42)

6 (24)

19 (38)

16 (41)

3 (27)

31 (48)

28 (54)

3 (23)

 Partially yes

11 (10)

9 (11)

2 (8.0)

4 (8.0)

3 (7.7)

1 (9.1)

6 (9.2)

6 (12)

0 (0)

 No

49 (45)

33 (40)

16 (64)

23 (46)

16 (41)

7 (64)

25 (38)

15 (29)

10 (77)

 Unclear

7 (6.5)

6 (7.2)

1 (4.0)

4 (8.0)

4 (10)

0 (0)

3 (4.6)

3 (5.8)

0 (0)

  1. Data are presented in frequency (%) for categorical variables or median (IQR) and range for continuous variables.
  2. aRCT: randomized controlled trials.
  3. bnon-RCTs; this included non-RCT intervention and cohort studies.
  4. cIQR: interquartile range.
  5. dPA: physical activity.
  6. eSB: sedentary behavior.
  7. fComparison types are the following: d-Health vs. no, d-Health intervention vs. no intervention (i.e., no intervention, usual care, and waitlist control); d-Health vs. non-d-Health, d-Health intervention vs. other interventions; d-Health vs. other d-Health, d-Health intervention vs. other d-Health intervention; Others, any other type of comparison types; No control, pre-post test.
  8. gITT: intention-to-treat.
Back to article page