A new meta-analysis of 11 studies shows that mobile device-enabled interventions can help increase people’s physical activity. The study, published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is the first meta-analysis of its kind, according to the authors.

The 11 studies looked at a broad range of mobile interventions, a few of which seem out of date in the current market. Eight of the 11 used text messaging to offer motivation and report activity. Four used smartphone apps, and two used Personal Digital Assistants, or PDAs.

“You go to conferences and there’s a lot of talk about mobile health interventions,” said Jason Fanning of the University of Illinois at Champagne-Urbana, one of the authors on the study, “but we didn’t have a concrete or objective way of looking at this.” Fanning says this foundational data will give a comparison point for future studies, possibly involving newer technologies.

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