Stephanie F.V. Sondaal|Joyce L. Browne|Mary Amoakoh?Coleman|Alexander B. J. Borgstein|Andrea Solnes Miltenburg|Mirjam Verwijs|Kerstin Klipstein?Grobusch
Assessing the Effect of mHealth Interventions in Improving Maternal and Neonatal Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
University Medical Center Utrecht|University Medical Center Utrecht|University Medical Center Utrecht|University of Ghana|University Medical Center Utrecht|University of Oslo|University Medical Center Utrecht|University of the Witwatersrand
introduction maternal neonatal mortality remains high many low middleincome countries lmic availability use mobile phones increasing rapidly 90 persons developing countries mobilecellular subscription mobile health mhealth interventions proposed effective solutions improve maternal neonatal health systematic review assessed effect mhealth interventions support pregnant women antenatal birth postnatal period lmic methods review registered prospero crd42014010292 six databases searched june 2014april 2015 accompanied grey literature search using predefined search terms linked pregnant women lmic mhealth quality articles assessed adapted cochrane risk bias tool heterogeneity outcomes settings study designs narrative synthesis quantitative results intervention studies maternal outcomes neonatal outcomes service utilization healthy pregnancy education conducted qualitative quantitative results synthesized strengths weaknesses opportunities threats analysis results total 3777 articles found 27 studies included twelve intervention studies fifteen descriptive studies mhealth interventions targeted pregnant women increased maternal neonatal service utilization shown increased antenatal care attendance facilityservice utilization skilled attendance birth vaccination rates articles assessed effect maternal neonatal health outcomes inconsistent results conclusion mhealth interventions may effective solutions improve maternal neonatal service utilization studies assessing mhealths impact maternal neonatal outcomes recommended emerging trend strong experimental research designs randomized controlled trials combined feasibility research government involvement integration mhealth interventions healthcare system encouraging pave way improved decision making best practice implementation mhealth interventions