The DOI matches its Crossref record; 82 of the 82 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Can Digital Technologies Be Useful for Weight Loss in Individuals with Overweight or Obesity? A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
Digital technologies have greatly developed and impacted several aspects of life, including health and lifestyle. Activity tracking, mobile applications, and devices may also provide messages and goals to motivate adopting healthy behaviors, namely physical activity and dietary changes. This review aimed to assess the effectiveness of digital resources in supporting behavior changes, and thus influencing weight loss, in people with overweight or obesity. A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023403364). Randomized Controlled Trials published from the database’s inception to 8 November 2023 and focused on digital-based technologies aimed at increasing physical activity for the purpose of weight loss, with or without changes in diet, were considered eligible. In total, 1762 studies were retrieved and 31 met the inclusion criteria. Although they differed in the type of technology used and in their design, two-thirds of the studies reported significantly greater weight loss among electronic device users than controls. Many of these studies reported tailored or specialist-guided interventions. The use of digital technologies may be useful to support weight-loss interventions for people with overweight or obesity. Personalized feedback can increase the effectiveness of new technologies in motivating behavior changes.
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“Digital health platforms may help bridge these gaps by delivering individualized nutrition and activity guidance, real-time feedback, and behavioral accountability at scale.91,92”
From Weight maintenance after discontinuation of GLP-1 therapies (2026) · cites this paper as [91]
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“This systematic review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines [32].”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Protano, C., De Giorgi, A., Valeriani, F., Mazzeo, E., Zanni, S., Cofone, L., D’Ancona, G., Hasnaoui, A., Pindinello, I., Sabato, M., Ubaldi, F., Volpini, V., Romano Spica, V., Vitali, M., & Gallè, F.
- Affiliations
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
- Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- Foro Italico University of Rome (IT)
- National Engineering School of Tunis (TN)
- Department of Movement, Human, and Health Sciences, University of Rome Foro Italico, 00135 Rome, Italy
- Department of Medical, Movement and Wellbeing Sciences, University of Naples Parthenope, 80133 Naples, Italy
- Corresponding author
- Valeriani, Federica
- ORCID
- Venue
- Healthcare
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2024-03-16
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 670
- ISSN
- 2227-9032 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC10970199
- OpenAlex
- W4392916806
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 1.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Healthcare (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IRIS Research product catalog (Sapienza University of Rome) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial research information system (Parthenope University of Naples) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- digital health technologies, weight loss, obesity, overweight, physical activity, mobile health apps, activity monitoring, behavior change, personalized feedback, dietary change, weight loss interventions
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