Table 4.
Summary of meta-analyses
| Author(s), publication year | Review and comparison | No. of included studies | Outcome (units) | N | Heterogeneity | Effect size (95% CI) | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| χ2 (df) | P | T2 | I2 | |||||||
| Ang et al. (2021) | Intervention using mobile app vs. control (RCTs only) | 14 | Weight change (kg) | 68.3 | − 0.26 (− 0.41, − 0.11) SMD | < 0.01 | ||||
| Intervention using mobile app vs. control (RCTs only) | 11 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 69.9 | − 0.21 (− 0.42, − 0.01) SMD | 0.04 | |||||
| App combined with usual care vs. usual care (RCTs only) | 11 | Weight change (kg) | 67.6 | − 0.28 (− 0.47, − 0.09) SMD | < 0.01 | |||||
| App combined with usual care vs. usual care (RCTs only) | 7 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 76.2 | − 0.27 (− 0.54, 0.01) SMD | 0.05 | |||||
| Antoun et al. (2022) | Smartphone app combined with nonapp intervention vs. control without app, at 3 mo | 14 | Weight change (kg) | 1673 | 66.71 (13) | < 0.001 | 81 | − 1.99 (− 2.19, − 1.79) MD | < 0.001 | |
| Smartphone app combined with nonapp intervention vs. control without app, at 6 mo | 17 | Weight change (kg) | 2368 | 161.48 (16) | < 0.001 | 90 | − 2.80 (− 3.03, − 2.56) MD | < 0.001 | ||
| Beleigoli et al. (2019) | Web-based only vs. offline intervention | 10 | Weight change (kg) | 1497 | 141.32 (9) | < 0.001 | 4.43 | 94 | − 0.77 (− 2.16, 0.62) MD | 0.28 |
| Web-based only vs. offline intervention | 8 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 1244 | 52.98 (7) | < 0.001 | 0.46 | 87 | − 0.12 (− 0.64, 0.41) MD | 0.66 | |
| Web-based only vs. offline intervention for studies with < 6 months follow-up duration | 4 | Weight change (kg) | 393 | 2.96 (3) | 0.40 | 0.00 | 0 | − 2.13 (− 2.71, − 1.55) MD | < 0.001 | |
| Web-based only vs. offline intervention for studies with ≥ 6 months follow-up duration | 6 | Weight change (kg) | 1104 | 79.81 (5) | < 0.001 | 5.18 | 94 | − 0.17 (− 2.10, 1.76) MD | 0.86 | |
| Web-based only vs. active nontechnology intervention | 6 | Weight change (kg) | 1051 | 9.71 (5) | 0.08 | 0.38 | 49 | 0.82 (0.06, 1.59) MD | 0.04 | |
| Web-based only vs. wait list | 5 | Weight change (kg) | 886 | 46.85 (4) | < 0.001 | 91 | − 2.14 (− 2.65, − 1.64) MD | < 0.001 | ||
| Berry and Kassavou et al. (2021) | Digital intervention vs. control | 12 | Weight change (kg) | 1190 | 34.96 (11) | < 0.001 | 1.60 | 69 | − 2.87 (− 3.78, − 1.96) MD | < 0.001 |
| Berry and Sala et al. (2021) | Coaching combined with automated digital intervention vs. offline coaching | 13 | Weight change (kg) | 1471 | 156.18 (12) | < 0.001 | 0.50 | 92 | − 0.54 (− 0.95, − 0.13) SMD | 0.01 |
| Chew et al. (2022) | Smart phone app intervention vs. control, < 3 mo | 8 | Weight change (kg) | 1021 | < 0.01 | 4.63 | 91.3 | − 1.15 (− 3.02, 0.72) MD | 0.19 | |
| Smart phone app intervention vs. control, 3 mo | 11 | Weight change (kg) | 1406 | < 0.01 | 3.80 | 87.3 | − 2.18 (− 3.59, − 0.78) MD | < 0.01 | ||
| Smart phone app intervention vs. control, 6 mo | 13 | Weight change (kg) | 1604 | 0.01 | 2.02 | 52.4 | − 2.15 (− 3.25, − 1.05) MD | < 0.01 | ||
| Smart phone app intervention vs. control, 9–12 mo | 5 | Weight change (kg) | 899 | 0.52 | 0.03 | 0 | − 1.63 (− 2.99, − 0.26) MD | 0.03 | ||
| Huang et al. (2018) | Telehealth weight loss intervention vs. control | 5 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 0.17 | 37.2 | − 0.68 (− 1.07, − 0.30) MD | < 0.01 | |||
| Islam et al. (2020) | Mobile phone app intervention vs. control | 11 | Weight change (kg) | Q = 42.65 | < 0.1 | 1.40 | 76.6 | − 1.07 (− 1.92, − 0.21) MD | 0.01 | |
| Mobile phone app intervention vs. control | 10 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | Q = 42.65 | < 0.1 | 0.17 | 78.0 | − 0.45 (− 0.78, − 0.12) MD | 0.008 | ||
| Mobile phone app intervention vs. control, ≤ 3 mo | 5 | Weight change (kg) | − 0.004 (− 0.79, 0.80) MD | 0.99 | ||||||
| Mobile phone app intervention vs. control, > 3 mo | 6 | Weight change (kg) | − 1.63 (− 2.64, − 0.61) MD | < 0.002 | ||||||
| Jahangiry et al. (2021) | Web-based intervention vs. non-web-based control | 8 | Weight change (kg) | 779 | 0.001 | 74.8 | 0.56 (− 3.47, 4.59) WMD | 0.786 | ||
| Lahtio et al. (2022) | Web- or mobile-based distance weight loss intervention vs. no technology control | 28 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 4060 | < 0.001 | 90 | − 0.83 (− 1.15, − 0.51) MD | < 0.001 | ||
| Lau et al. (2020) | Personalized eHealth intervention vs. control, population with obesity | 12 | Weight change (kg) | 1640 | − 3.10 (− 4.05, − 2.15) MD | < 0.001 | ||||
| Personalized eHealth intervention vs. control before sensitivity analysis | 11 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 5317 | 80 | − 0.77 (− 1.03, − 0.51) MD | < 0.001 | ||||
| Personalized eHealth intervention vs. control after sensitivity analysis | 9 | Change in BMI (kg/m2) | 1226 | 13 | − 0.92 (− 1.10, − 0,74) MD | < 0.001 | ||||
| Mamalaki et al. (2022) | Technology-based weight loss maintenance intervention vs. minimum intervention | 10 | Weight change (kg) | 2187 | Q = 4.63 (df 9) | 0.87 | 0.00 | 0.0 | − 0.07 (− 0.57, 0.42) MD | 0.77 |
| Technology-based weight loss maintenance intervention vs. in-person intervention | 4 | Weight change (kg) | 1105 | Q = 4.78 (df 3) | 0.19 | 0.45 | 37.2 | 1.36 (0.29, 2.43) MD | 0.01 | |
| Podina et al. (2018) | eHealth intervention vs. passive control at posttreatment | 50 | Weight outcomes | 84 | 0.34 (0.24, 0.44) g | |||||
| eHealth intervention vs. passive control at follow-up | 10 | Weight outcomes | 84 | 0.25 (0.05, 0.46) g | ||||||
| eHealth intervention vs. active control at posttreatment | 7 | Weight outcomes | < 0.01 | − 0.31 (− 0.43, − 0.20) g | ||||||
| Shi et al. (2022) | Web-based intervention vs. offline control | 44 | Weight change (kg) | 7062 | 481.60 (43) | < 0.001 | 0.29 | 91 | − 0.57 (− 0.75, − 0.40) SMD | < 0.001 |
| Varela et al. (2021) | Intensive contact websitea vs. wait list | 3 | Weight change (kg) | 320 | 0.94 (2) | 0.63 | 0.00 | 0 | − 4.32 (− 5.08, − 3.57) MD | < 0.001 |
| Minimal contact websitea vs. wait list | 3 | Weight change (kg) | 480 | 0.81 (2) | 0.67 | 0.00 | 0 | − 3.23 (− 3.80, − 2.66) MD | < 0.001 | |
| Intensive contact website vs. self-help | 5 | Weight change (kg) | 790 | 0.40 (4) | 0.98 | 0.00 | 0 | − 1.79 (− 2.33, − 1.24) MD | < 0.001 | |
BMI body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), RCT randomized controlled trial, MD mean difference, SMD standardized mean difference, WMD weighted mean difference, g Hedge’s g, Q Cochran’s Q, I2 percentage of the variation across studies that can be attributed to study heterogeneity, T2 between-study variance
aIntensive contact website: personalized feedback provided by a healthcare professional at least once a week. Minimal contact website: feedback provided at least once a month; provided by a professional (personalized) or machine (not personalized)