Table 2.
Details of the primary studies identified and reviewed.
| PFMTa mHealthb app |
Country | Year launched | Platform | Study design | Study participants |
Participant characteristics |
Outcomes |
| Squeezy App [41] | United Kingdom | 2013 | iOS | Cross-sectional survey | 464—38% pregnant women; mean age unavailable | Mixture of bladder problem and healthy men and women | 80% carried out their PFMT at least 3 days a week. |
| Tät [35] | Sweden | 2013 | iOS and Android | Randomized controlled trial | 123 nonpregnant women; mean age (intervention group): 44.8 (SD 9.7) years; mean age (control group): 44.7 (SD 9.1) years | Stress urinary incontinence | 41% (25/61) performed PFMT daily |
| Tät [39] | Sweden | 2013 | iOS and Android | Randomized controlled trial (2-year follow-up) | 123 nonpregnant women; mean age: 44.2 (SD 10.3) years | Stress urinary incontinence | Use of incontinence protection decreased significantly (P=.04); 31/46 (67.4%; P<.001) could contract their pelvic muscles correctly |
| Tät [42] | Sweden | 2013 | iOS and Android | Randomized controlled trial (cost-utility study) | 123 nonpregnant women; mean age (intervention group): 44.8 (SD 9.7) years; mean age (control group): 44.7 (SD 9.1) years | Stress urinary incontinence | The extra cost per quality-adjusted life year for the app group ranged from −€2425.70 (US $2718.60) to €14,870.60 (US $16,666.20) |
| Diário Saúde [34] | Brazil | 2016 | N/Ac | Randomized controlled trial | 31 nonpregnant women; mean age (intervention group): 47.2 (SD 10.6) years; mean age (control group): 53.3 (SD 13.2) years | Stress urinary incontinence | Adherence was higher in the app group at 1 and 2 months after PFMT (P<.001) |
| Penyikang app [40] (synchronous app) | China | 2017 | iOS and Android | Cross-sectional study | 1982 postpartum women aged >18 years | Pelvic floor muscle weakness | 483 postpartum women had a relatively high degree of participation (15 times) |
| iBall app [36] (an external device connected via Bluetooth) | Canada | 2017 | N/A | Pilot randomized controlled feasibility study | 23 postpartum women; mean age (intervention group): 31 (SD 2.7) years; mean age (control group): 34 (SD 2.2) years | Not specified | There was no statistically significant difference between the groups for change scores |
| MyHealtheBladder app [37] | United States | 2017 | N/A | Pilot single-group, quasi-experimental study | 29 nonpregnant women; mean age: 54.4 (SD 10.4) years | Urinary incontinence | 97% adherence rate to the daily sessions |
| Bwom app [38] | United States | 2017 | N/A | Cross-sectional survey | 47 patients and 22 providers (pregnancy status not available); age 20-50 years | Not specified | No adherence outcome |
| Pen Yi Kang [43] (audio guidance app) | China | 2018 | iOS and Android | 2-arm parallel randomized controlled clinical trial | 108 primipara women; mean age (intervention group): 29.2 (SD 2.6) years; mean age (control group): 29.1 (SD 2.9) years | Stress urinary incontinence | Greater self-efficacy with a mean difference of 8.9 points at 6 months after delivery |
aPFMT: pelvic floor muscle training.
bmHealth: mobile health.
cN/A: not applicable.