Dietary mobile apps and their effect on nutritional indicators in chronic renal disease: A systematic review

Dietary apps for mobile technology are becoming increasingly available and can assist in recording food and fluid intake for nutrition assessment or monitoring. Patients with chronic renal disease, particularly those on dialysis, are required to make significant dietary changes. This study systematically reviews the current literature to assess whether dietary mobile apps improve dietary intake and clinical outcomes in the renal population, specifically those with chronic kidney disease levels 3-5, including dialysis. A systematic search of Medline Complete, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library was performed and supplemented by manual searches of citation and reference lists. Of the 712 studies considered, five were eligible for inclusion in this review. The quality of each included study was assessed using a Quality Criteria Checklist for Primary Research. Among five studies (two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and three case studies/reports), none found significant changes in nutrient intake, biochemical markers or intradialytic weight gain, through the use of dietary mobile apps. The included studies show potential for clinical benefits of mobile app interventions in a renal population. However, there is a need for additional rigorous trials to demonstrate if there is a clinical benefit of mobile app interventions in this population. Summary at a Glance The authors undertook a systematic review of studies that used mobile apps to modify the compliance with dietary restrictions of patients with chronic kidney disease. They found only two randomised controlled trials and three case reports and thus clinical benefit or harm could not be determined.