mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review
BackgroundReducing maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and under 5-year mortality are important targets addressed by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Despite studies reported an improvement in maternal and child health indicators, the progress achieved is not uniform across...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2022.942146/full |
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| author | Elvis Bossman Monika A. Johansen Monika A. Johansen Paolo Zanaboni Paolo Zanaboni |
| author_facet | Elvis Bossman Monika A. Johansen Monika A. Johansen Paolo Zanaboni Paolo Zanaboni |
| author_sort | Elvis Bossman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundReducing maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and under 5-year mortality are important targets addressed by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Despite studies reported an improvement in maternal and child health indicators, the progress achieved is not uniform across regions. Due to the increasing availability of mobile phones in low and middle-income countries, mHealth could impact considerably on reducing maternal and child mortality and maximizing women's access to quality care, from the antenatal stage to the post-natal period.MethodsA systematic literature review of mHealth interventions aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Primary outcomes were maternal mortality, neonatal mortality, and under-five mortality. Secondary outcomes were skilled birth attendance, antenatal care (ANC) and post-natal care (PNC) attendance, and vaccination/immunization coverage. We searched for articles published from January 2010 to December 2020 in Embase, Medline and Web of Science. Quantitative comparative studies were included. The protocol was developed according to the PRISMA Checklist and published in PROSPERO [CRD42019109434]. The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies was used to assess the quality of the eligible studies.Results23 studies were included in the review, 16 undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa and 7 in Southern Asia. Most studies used SMS or voice message reminders for education purposes. Only two studies reported outcomes on neonatal mortality, with positive results. None of the studies reported results on maternal mortality or under-five mortality. Outcomes on skilled birth attendance, ANC attendance, PNC attendance, and vaccination coverage were reported in six, six, five, and eleven studies, respectively. Most of these studies showed a positive impact of mHealth interventions on the secondary outcomes.ConclusionSimple mHealth educational interventions based on SMS and voice message reminders are effective at supporting behavior change of pregnant women and training of health workers, thus improving ANC and PNC attendance, vaccination coverage and skilled birth attendance. Higher quality studies addressing the role of mHealth in reducing maternal and child mortality in resource-limited settings are needed, especially in Southern Asia.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019109434, identifier CRD42019109434. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:54:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7894689497464010b9ae9a0d3f5e5c56 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5059 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T02:54:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Global Women's Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-7894689497464010b9ae9a0d3f5e5c562022-12-22T02:16:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Global Women's Health2673-50592022-08-01310.3389/fgwh.2022.942146942146mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature reviewElvis Bossman0Monika A. Johansen1Monika A. Johansen2Paolo Zanaboni3Paolo Zanaboni4Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayDepartment of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayNorwegian Centre for E-Health Research, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, NorwayDepartment of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, NorwayNorwegian Centre for E-Health Research, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, NorwayBackgroundReducing maternal mortality, neonatal mortality and under 5-year mortality are important targets addressed by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Despite studies reported an improvement in maternal and child health indicators, the progress achieved is not uniform across regions. Due to the increasing availability of mobile phones in low and middle-income countries, mHealth could impact considerably on reducing maternal and child mortality and maximizing women's access to quality care, from the antenatal stage to the post-natal period.MethodsA systematic literature review of mHealth interventions aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia. Primary outcomes were maternal mortality, neonatal mortality, and under-five mortality. Secondary outcomes were skilled birth attendance, antenatal care (ANC) and post-natal care (PNC) attendance, and vaccination/immunization coverage. We searched for articles published from January 2010 to December 2020 in Embase, Medline and Web of Science. Quantitative comparative studies were included. The protocol was developed according to the PRISMA Checklist and published in PROSPERO [CRD42019109434]. The Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies was used to assess the quality of the eligible studies.Results23 studies were included in the review, 16 undertaken in Sub-Saharan Africa and 7 in Southern Asia. Most studies used SMS or voice message reminders for education purposes. Only two studies reported outcomes on neonatal mortality, with positive results. None of the studies reported results on maternal mortality or under-five mortality. Outcomes on skilled birth attendance, ANC attendance, PNC attendance, and vaccination coverage were reported in six, six, five, and eleven studies, respectively. Most of these studies showed a positive impact of mHealth interventions on the secondary outcomes.ConclusionSimple mHealth educational interventions based on SMS and voice message reminders are effective at supporting behavior change of pregnant women and training of health workers, thus improving ANC and PNC attendance, vaccination coverage and skilled birth attendance. Higher quality studies addressing the role of mHealth in reducing maternal and child mortality in resource-limited settings are needed, especially in Southern Asia.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42019109434, identifier CRD42019109434.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2022.942146/fullmHealthmaternal healthchild healthantenatal carepost-natal careSustainable Development Goals |
| spellingShingle | Elvis Bossman Monika A. Johansen Monika A. Johansen Paolo Zanaboni Paolo Zanaboni mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review Frontiers in Global Women's Health mHealth maternal health child health antenatal care post-natal care Sustainable Development Goals |
| title | mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review |
| title_full | mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review |
| title_fullStr | mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review |
| title_full_unstemmed | mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review |
| title_short | mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review |
| title_sort | mhealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in sub saharan africa and southern asia a systematic literature review |
| topic | mHealth maternal health child health antenatal care post-natal care Sustainable Development Goals |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2022.942146/full |
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