SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Translational and Clinical Endocrinology
This article is part of the Research TopicImpacts of Physical Activity and Exercise on Metabolic DisordersView all articles
The effectiveness of digital health interventions on anthropometric and healthy behaviour in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nankai District, China
- 2National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tian jin, China
- 3The People's Hospital of Wuchuan, zunyi, China
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Objective: To investigate the effects of digital health interventions (DHIs) for improving anthropometric and healthy behaviour in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Five databases were searched from their inception to April 2025 with no date restrictions. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random‑effects models. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. Results: Ten trials with 930 participants were included. In short‑term (≤3 months), DHIs yielded significant reductions in BMI (MD –1.19; –1.84 to –0.55; I²=0%), waist circumference (MD –2.14; – 3.11 to –1.17; I²=0%) and large improvements in total HPLP‑II score (SMD 1.61; 1.20 to 2.01; I²=0%), physical activity (SMD 1.43; 1.04 to 1.83; I²=0%), health responsibility (SMD 1.02; 0.64 to 1.39; I²=0%), interpersonal relationships (SMD 0.96; 0.59 to 1.33; I²=0%), spiritual growth (SMD 1.25; 0.87 to 1.64; I²=0%) and stress management (SMD 1.17; 0.79 to 1.55; I²=0%); there was no significant change in body weight (SMD –0.04; –0.23 to 0.15; I²=0%) or HPLP‑II nutrition (SMD 0.83; –0.11 to 1.78; I²=84%). In medium‑term (3–6 months), DHIs continued to reduce BMI (MD – 2.46; –3.04 to –1.88; I²=22%) and waist circumference (MD –4.65; –6.70 to –2.60; I²=0%), and yielded significant improvements in depressive symptoms (SMD –0.85; –1.17 to –0.53; I²=17%) and anxiety (SMD –0.95; –1.33 to –0.56; I²=42%). Conclusion: Digital health interventions confer significant short‑ and medium‑term improvements in anthropometric and healthy behaviour measures among women with PCOS.
Keywords: anthropometric measures, digital health interventions, Health behaviour, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Systematic review
Received: 21 Nov 2025; Accepted: 06 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 zeng, dou, zhang, wang, Xia and xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Tian Xia
jing xu
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