Digital health interventions for spinal surgery patients: A systematic scoping review

The potential of digital health interventions to optimize healthcare is promising also in the context of spinal surgery. However, a systematic review assessing the quality of digital health interventions for spinal surgery patients and the potential effects on these patients is lacking.

The objective of the current scoping review was to provide a systematic overview of digital health interventions for spinal surgery patients described in scientific literature. The focus was on describing the current digital health interventions, assessing the quality of these descriptions, reviewing the reported effects and assessing the methodological quality of the included studies.

A total of 14 full-text articles, describing 11 digital health interventions were included in the final analysis. These digital health interventions ranged from a website and app to a mobile phone messaging system and mobile phone interface. Most digital health interventions aim to improve adherence to rehabilitation guidelines and physical health. The included studies were generally of moderate to high quality and showed significant effects on physical health. Vital aspects of digital interventions such as "working mechanism theory" and "prompts and reminders" were often absent in the description of interventions.

The study of digital interventions for spinal surgery patient is emerging and promising. However, there is a scarcity of studies using a rigorous design. A more systematic and comprehensive framework for developing and describing digital interventions for spinal surgery patients is highly recommended.