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Digital health technologies may complement the sexual health education delivered in many settings by providing interactive, private, and accessible learning opportunities through mobile applications. This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of mobile applications for sexual health education among adolescents and young people, and compared implementation and outcomes across developing and developed economies. Literature searches were conducted in CENTRAL, PubMed, ProQuest, SAGE Journals, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Wiley Online Library for studies published from January 2016 to February 2026, with all databases being last searched in February 2026. Eligible studies were randomised or cluster-randomised controlled trials involving adolescents and young people aged 10–24 years who received mobile application–based sexual and reproductive health education interventions. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool, and findings were synthesised narratively. Among the 3,781 records identified, 11 studies involving 14,649 participants were included. Through narrative synthesis, four main analytical themes were identified: (1) technological characteristics encompassing application platforms and features; (2) intervention effectiveness on knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviour; (3) intervention implementation settings; and (4) the educational content delivered through the applications. Mobile phone applications were effective in supporting sexual health education, although heterogeneity across interventions limits the generalisability of findings.
Cahyani et al. (2026) studied this question.