Table 1.

Study characteristics

First author (Year)	Study duration (months)	Geographic location	Population	Primary outcome(s)	Mobile electronic device used	Description of intervention	Description of control	Results	User feedback
Beasley (2008) [20]	1	United States	Overweight/obese adults. BMI = 25 to 40 kg/m2	Change in mean weight (lbs.), change in waist circumference (inches), adherence to intervention	Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)	PDA based program DietMatePro. Used as an alternative to paper based records	Paper diary	Mean weight decrease of 3.5 (SD = 4.9) lbs in the EG compared to 2.9 (SD = 4.8) lbs in the CG. Waist circumference decreased by 1.0 (SD = 1.2) inch in the EG compared to 0.5 (SD = 1.5) inch in the CG. Adherence was higher among the EG (43%) compared to the CG (28%)	N/A
Haapala (2009) [21]	12	Finland	Healthy overweight adults (18 to 59 years of age). BMI = 27 to 43 kg/m2	Change in body weight (kg) and waist circumference (cm)	Text messaging (Mobile Phone)	Use of mobile phone-operated weight-loss program, Weight Balance®. Program based on sending of various daily text messages	No intervention. Offered the studies weight-loss program free of charge after the 12-month study	Mean weight decrease of 4.5 (SD = 5.0) kg in the EG compared to 1.1 (SD = 5.8) kg in the CG. Waist circumference decrease by 6.3 (SD = 5.3) cm in the EG compared to 2.4 (SD = 5.4) cm in the CG	At 12 months, participants gave the program a score of 7.8 (0.8) on a user satisfaction scale from 4 to 10.
Patrick (2009) [22]	4	United States	Overweight adults (25 to 55 years of age). BMI = 25 to 39.9 kg/m2	Weight change (kg)	SMS & MMS messages (Mobile Phone)	Personalized SMS and MMS messages sent 2 to 5 times daily, printed materials, and brief monthly phone calls from a health counselor	Participants given monthly printed materials about weight control	Mean weight decrease of 2.46 (SD = 3.68) kg in the EG compared to 0.47 (SD = 3.62) kg in the CG.	At the end of the study, 22 of 24 (92%) of intervention participants said they would recommend the intervention for weight control to family and friends
Burke (2012) [23]	24	United States	Healthy overweight/obese adults (≤59 years of age). BMI = 27 to 43 kg/m2	Percent weight change (kg) at 24 months, adherence to self-monitoring over time	PDA	PDA with DietMatePro© software for self-monitoring.	Paper Diary and Nutritional reference book	Mean weight decrease of 1.18 (SD = 8.78) kg in the EG compared to 1.77 (SD = 7.23) kg in the CG. Weight loss was greater for those who were more adherent	N/A
Shapiro (2012) [25]	12	United States	Overweight adults (21 to 65 years of age). BMI ≥ 25 to 39.9 kg/m2	Weight change (lbs), adherence to intervention and steps per day	Text messaging (Mobile Phone)	SMS and MMS messages sent 2 to 5 times daily and monthly e-newsletters	Monthly e-newsletter	Mean weight decrease of 3.64 (SD = 12.01) lbs in the EG compared to 2.27 (SD = 9.39) lbs in the CG. Text-messaging adherence was moderately strong (60 to 69%). Participants’ steps increased almost 3000 steps/day over time (p < 0.05) in the EG.	Participants completed a survey assessing the program overall and its individual components. Likert rating scales were used: (e.g., ‘Please rate the SMS portion in enjoyability’ or ‘How likely would you be to refer the intervention to a friend?’ 0 = not at all, 5 = somewhat, 10 = extremely)
Carter (2013) [24]	6	United Kingdom	Overweight adults (18 to 65 years of age). BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2	Weight change (kg), change in body fat and adherence to intervention	Smartphone app (Mobile Phone)	MMM smartphone app for weight loss to be used on an Android operating system	Paper Diary	Mean weight decrease of 4.6 (SD = 5.20) kg in the EG compared to 2.9 (SD = 5.85) kg in the CG. Change in body fat was 1.3% (95% CI = −1.7 to −0.8) in the EG and 0.9% (95% CI = −1.5 to −0.4) in the CG	N/A

BMI: Body Mass Index. lbs: Pounds. Kg: Kilogram. SMS: Short Message Service. MMS: Multimedia Messaging Service. PDA: Personal Digital Assistant.