55

Mobile Applications and Internet-based Approaches

for Supporting Non-professional Caregivers Evidence-based Synthesis Program

APPENDIX A. Search Strategy

Search conducted in MEDLINE® via PubMed® on 12/9/2011

Concept Search# Search String Citations

Non-Professional 

caregivers

#60 ((“Family”[Mesh]) OR “Caregivers”[Mesh]) OR 

“Home Nursing”[Mesh]

220979

#77 (((caregiv*[Title/Abstract]) OR “care giving”[Title/

Abstract]) OR “care giver”[Title/Abstract]) OR care 

givers[Title/Abstract]

28393

#78 (#77) OR #60 235910

Mobile apps #80 ((“Computers, Handheld”[Mesh]) OR “Cellular 

Phone”[Mesh]) OR “wireless technology”[Mesh]

4152

#81 iPad OR handheld OR interactive OR mobile computing 

OR smart phone* OR mobile phone* OR mobile 

technolog* OR m-health OR internet based OR personal 

digital assistant* OR online OR sms OR iphone OR 

android OR text messag* OR tablet computer OR 

informatics application OR app

100411

#82 (#81) OR #80 101517

Union of 

concepts

#83 (#82) AND #78 2147

Search for specialized databases and grey literature conducted 12/9/2011 and 4/30/2012

Specialized Databases and Grey literature sources searched

Database Search Hits

AMIA Proceedings

http://proceedings.amia.org

Searched 12/9/2011

“caregiv*” 268

IEEE Xplore

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org

Searched 12/9/2011

“caregiv*” 266

Healthcare Information & management Systems (HiMSS) 

conferences and website

http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp

Searched 4/30/2012

“caregiver” OR 

“caregiving”

2

Med 2.0 (abstracts from 2008 – 2012)

http://www.medicine20congress.com/ocs/index.php/med/med2012

Searched 4/30/2012

“caregiver” OR 

“caregiving”

2

Health 2.0 (abstracts from 2007 – 2011)

http://www.health2con.com/conferences/

Searched 4/30/2012

“caregiver” OR 

“caregiving”

No 

results
56

Mobile Applications and Internet-based Approaches

for Supporting Non-professional Caregivers Evidence-based Synthesis Program

APPENDIX B. Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria

1. Is the full text of the article in English? 

Yes........................................................................................................Proceed to #2

No ....................................................................................................Code X1. STOP

2. Is the article a primary study that presents findings based on original data collection; or a 

systematic review of primary studies?

Yes........................................................................................................Proceed to #3

No.................................................................................................Code X2. Go to #6

3. Does the article evaluate the effectiveness of a targeted consumer health information 

technology (CHIT) intervention listed below in the PICOTS?

Yes........................................................................................................Proceed to #4

No.................................................................................................Code X3. Go to #5

4. Does the study population include non-professional, human/non-robot caregivers of patients with 

chronic illness or disability, or are caregiver-centered outcomes reported as a primary outcome?

Yes, adult patients ......................................................................... Code I3/A. STOP

Yes, child patients ......................................................................... Code I3/C. STOP

No.................................................................................................Code X4. Go to #6

5. Is the article a primary study or systematic review evaluating the effects of telephony, interactive 

voice response, or telehealth interventions?

Yes..................................................................................................... Code I5. STOP

No.................................................................................................Code X5. Go to #6

6. Is the article possibly useful for background/discussion? .............Code B. STOP

PICOTS:

Population: Non-professional, non-robot caregivers of adult patients with chronic illnesses, and/

or parents of children with healthcare needs.

Intervention: Self-directed mobile applications for use on smart phones, personal digital 

assistants (PDAs) and tablet computers, including: interactive or individually tailored web-based 

interventions, decision aids, and risk assessment software; chat and online support groups; secure 

messaging; or other portable or home-based interactive information tools whose purpose is to 

facilitate communication, coordination, or tailored education in order to support the emotional, 

spiritual, organizational, management, and healthcare needs of non-professional caregivers of 

patients with chronic illnesses or health risk factors. Non-interactive educational media (e.g., 

E-pamphlet) that provide information only are excluded. 

We excluded studies focused on telephony, interactive-voice-response, synchronous telehealth 

interventions, and fixed home-monitoring technologies such as smart-homes, vitals-monitoring, 

GPS and other location-monitoring, and monitoring for patient falls.

Control: Usual care (use of paper forms and educational materials, in-person visits).
57

Mobile Applications and Internet-based Approaches

for Supporting Non-professional Caregivers Evidence-based Synthesis Program

Outcomes:

1) Caregiver-centered outcomes: caregiver satisfaction, caregiver burnout, caregiver 

access, caregiver quality of life scores, caregiver depression/anxiety scores.

2) Patient-centered outcomes: patient satisfaction, patient activation, functional 

status, quality of life; quality of patient-caregiver relationship.

3) Process measures: clinician satisfaction; caregiver perceptions of mobile 

technologies; usage, usability, and barriers to usage of technologies/tools/

applications; communication with healthcare providers.

4) Utilization outcomes: hospitalizations, ER visits, outpatient/PCP visits.

Timing: No restrictions.

Setting: Outpatient (home, assisted living, adult foster care), excluding skilled nursing facilities.