Background: Regular and thorough skin self-examination (SSE) is an important strategy to reduce mortality among melanoma survivors. However, less than a quarter of melanoma survivors participate in skin self-examination.
Objective: The aim of this study was to systematically review the effectiveness of digital interventions on SSE-related practices in melanoma survivors.
Methods: Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, and EBSCO were used to identify literature with a search period from January 1, 2000, to June 11, 2024. Two researchers conducted the quality evaluation and summarized and analyzed the included literature.
Results: Twelve articles were included, with a quality score of 5-9 and an average score of 7.67 for the included studies. The digital intervention methods are web based (n = 5), mobile applications (n = 5), videos (n = 1), and interactive multimedia (n = 1). Eleven studies used at least 1 theoretical framework to guide their intervention design. Ten studies reported SSE rates, 2 studies reported SSE areas, and 2 studies reported SSE frequencies and other practical effects. Compared with the control group, the increase in SSE rate ranged from 26.2% to 78.9%; 90% of participants had a frequency of SSE ≥ 2 times per month, with an average of 5.14 areas of SSE; the usage rate of mirrors ranged from 67% to 88%.
Conclusions: Digital intervention can effectively improve the rates, frequency, and number of areas of SSE for melanoma survivors.
Implications for practice: Digital intervention can be used in clinical practice to provide efficient and effective SSE for melanoma survivors in the short to medium term.
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