Mobile phone data analyses for public health research: a scoping review

Mobile phone data provide high-resolution, near real-time measurements of population mobility and have become an increasingly valuable source for public health research, enabling rapid evaluation of policy impacts on human movement and pandemic control. However, the methodological challenges surrounding the extraction, governance, and validation of mobile phone data for the public health community remain insufficiently explored. Following the PRISMA-ScR framework, we conduct a scoping review to synthesize major research themes, opportunities, and challenges in the use of mobile phone data for public health, particularly pandemic-related studies. Our findings highlight limitations in the empirical use of these datasets, including demographic and population coverage, representativeness, and equity issues, as well as the transparency of data extraction and processing. We also provide guidance for future research, including the development of standardized frameworks for data curation and validation, a clear understanding of algorithms that extract mobility information, and rigorous interpretation of mobility metrics.