A Systematic Review of eHealth Interventions to Promote Physical Activity in Adults with Obesity or Overweight

Use of information and communication technology to improve health, known as eHealth, is an emerging concept in healthcare that may present opportunities to promote physical activity in adults with obesity. The purpose of this research was to systematically review eHealth intervention studies to promote physical activity in adults with obesity. Five electronic databases were used. Two authors screened articles, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data independently. A qualitative data synthesis for summarizing the findings was performed using harvest plots. In the search, 2276 articles were identified, and 18 studies met all inclusion criteria. Study quality ranged from poor to good. The included studies varied in intervention technology (e.g., web-based), physical activity assessment (e.g., device-based), and control group (e.g., wait-list). Behavioral change techniques used in the included studies were consistent with some techniques (e.g., self-monitoring) known as effective in face-to-face interventions, but more efficiently employed in eHealth using information and communication technology. Overall, this systematic review showed that a web-based or physical activity monitor-based eHealth intervention had the potential to effectively promote physical activity in adults with obesity. Some recommendations for future eHealth interventions to promote physical activity in adults with obesity were provided (e.g., use of theory, accelerometers).