Defining Adherence to Dietary Self-Monitoring Using a Mobile App: A Narrative Review

Publication date: Available online 13 August 2018Source: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and DieteticsAuthor(s): Jason E. Payne, Melanie T. Turk, Melissa A. Kalarchian, Christine A. PellegriniAbstractUnderstanding how adherence to dietary self-monitoring with apps has been defined is a first step toward examining the relationship between adherence and weight loss. The purpose of this review was to explore how adherence to dietary self-monitoring has been defined in the empirical literature that addresses weight loss app use by overweight and obese adults. The integrative review method and the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guided this review. Scientific databases (n=5) were searched, which yielded 29 studies. Studies were screened, evaluated for data quality, and then analyzed according to the constant comparison method. Most studies were weak to moderate quality. Results indicated that adherence was operationally defined in two ways. Adherence was defined as either adherent or nonadherent based on the completion of recording a minimum amount of calorie intake or a calorie amount within a specific range of calories. Another way that adherence was defined was the frequency of dietary self-monitoring, which included the frequency of dietary intake recording, interaction with apps, and the timing of recording. Some studies defined adherence in both ways. Most included studies lacked diversity in study samples. Until a consensus is reached,...
Source: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics - Category: Nutrition Source Type: research