Effects of mobile technology-based interventions for promoting mental health and psychosocial well-being among young people in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol

Objective: This review will aim to examine the effectiveness of mobile-based technologies implemented in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) among young people (10-24 years) to promote their mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Such promotional interventions may be in the form of mobile technology-based education, information and psychosocial counselling. Introduction: Young people in LMICs have limited access to mental health services. Mobile-based technologies like remote consultations, telehealth and smartphone applications can offer possibilities for improved access to mental health services. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no systematic reviews of effectiveness in this area.Inclusion criteria: Evidence sources from LMICs involving mobile-based technologies for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) interventions for young people will be included. All experimental and observational studies published in English from 2010 to 2022 will be included. Methods: The review will follow JBI Methodology for Systematic Reviews of Effectiveness. EMBASE (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), PsycINFO (ProQuest), AMED (Ovid), HMIC (Ovid) MEDLINE (Pubmed) and Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) will be searched. Grey literature will be identified through OpenGrey, Directory of Open Access Journals, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, EThOs, Asia eHealth Information Network, Google Scholar, and Grey Literature Report. Retrieved articles will be screened using Covidence software followed by assessment for methodological quality using standardized JBI appraisal tools by two reviewers independently. Data extraction will be through standardized JBI data extraction tool incorporated within JBI SUMARI. Narrative synthesis will be conducted, followed by meta-analysis, where feasible and certainty of evidence will be assessed through GRADE approach