Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review

IntroductionPerinatal and maternal mortality rates remain high in India compared to global levels, and there is significant heterogeneity in outcomes across Indian states. Many mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been developed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in India, however...

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Main Authors: Zara Small, Sophie Elizabeth Thompson, Ankita Sharma, Sreya Majumdar, Sudhir Raj Thout, Devarsetty Praveen, Jane Elizabeth Hirst
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Global Women's Health
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1427285/full
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author Zara Small
Sophie Elizabeth Thompson
Ankita Sharma
Sreya Majumdar
Sudhir Raj Thout
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
author_facet Zara Small
Sophie Elizabeth Thompson
Ankita Sharma
Sreya Majumdar
Sudhir Raj Thout
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
author_sort Zara Small
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionPerinatal and maternal mortality rates remain high in India compared to global levels, and there is significant heterogeneity in outcomes across Indian states. Many mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been developed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in India, however it is unclear how mHealth can best support women in this culturally and resource diverse setting. Therefore, we aimed to identify mHealth interventions targeting women and their families in the perinatal period in India, identify barriers and facilitators to their uptake, and future research directions.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews was used for study selection and screening and the mHealth evidence reporting and assessment checklist was used for evaluating mHealth interventions. PubMed, CINAHL, Global Health, and ACM digital library were searched for records up to 2 April 2023. Studies were included where women who were pregnant, planning for a child, or in the 12 months after delivery, and their families, living in India received health advice via a technological medium.Results1,783 records were screened, 29 met the inclusion criteria, describing 22 different mHealth interventions. Most frequent behavioural targets for interventions were breastfeeding, antenatal nutrition, and infant healthcare. Most interventions communicated to women through one-way communication methods, most frequently SMS. Participants reported positive views of mHealth, reported facilitators included group communication, use of non-maternal informative content, and a pictorial information format. Reported barriers included household responsibilities, technical difficulties, difficulty accessing a phone and difficulty understanding, or misinterpreting messages.DiscussionWe conclude that mHealth interventions are acceptable to women in India during the perinatal period. However, current interventions lack evidence of long term behavioural change and fail to report on features important in sustainability and scalability, namely network infrastructure, data security and interoperability. We propose the need for a framework to understand existing cultural beliefs and support structures to avoid early intervention failure. Future research should investigate multimodal mHealth interventions for behavioural change, identify the appropriate frequency and format of mHealth messages, and address access limitations such as shared mobile phone ownership, and illiteracy rates.
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spelling doaj-art-35c7aa85ee6841ac96865acdbdf534d52025-08-20T02:27:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Global Women's Health2673-50592024-11-01510.3389/fgwh.2024.14272851427285Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping reviewZara Small0Sophie Elizabeth Thompson1Ankita Sharma2Sreya Majumdar3Sudhir Raj Thout4Devarsetty Praveen5Devarsetty Praveen6Devarsetty Praveen7Jane Elizabeth Hirst8Jane Elizabeth Hirst9Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomMedical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomNuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomWomen's Health Program, The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, IndiaWomen's Health Program, The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, IndiaWomen's Health Program, The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad, IndiaSchool of Public Health, Prasanna School of Public Health, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, IndiaBetter Care, The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Newtown, NWS, AustraliaNuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford, United KingdomSchool of Public Health, The George Institute for Global Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United KingdomIntroductionPerinatal and maternal mortality rates remain high in India compared to global levels, and there is significant heterogeneity in outcomes across Indian states. Many mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been developed to improve maternal and infant health outcomes in India, however it is unclear how mHealth can best support women in this culturally and resource diverse setting. Therefore, we aimed to identify mHealth interventions targeting women and their families in the perinatal period in India, identify barriers and facilitators to their uptake, and future research directions.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews was used for study selection and screening and the mHealth evidence reporting and assessment checklist was used for evaluating mHealth interventions. PubMed, CINAHL, Global Health, and ACM digital library were searched for records up to 2 April 2023. Studies were included where women who were pregnant, planning for a child, or in the 12 months after delivery, and their families, living in India received health advice via a technological medium.Results1,783 records were screened, 29 met the inclusion criteria, describing 22 different mHealth interventions. Most frequent behavioural targets for interventions were breastfeeding, antenatal nutrition, and infant healthcare. Most interventions communicated to women through one-way communication methods, most frequently SMS. Participants reported positive views of mHealth, reported facilitators included group communication, use of non-maternal informative content, and a pictorial information format. Reported barriers included household responsibilities, technical difficulties, difficulty accessing a phone and difficulty understanding, or misinterpreting messages.DiscussionWe conclude that mHealth interventions are acceptable to women in India during the perinatal period. However, current interventions lack evidence of long term behavioural change and fail to report on features important in sustainability and scalability, namely network infrastructure, data security and interoperability. We propose the need for a framework to understand existing cultural beliefs and support structures to avoid early intervention failure. Future research should investigate multimodal mHealth interventions for behavioural change, identify the appropriate frequency and format of mHealth messages, and address access limitations such as shared mobile phone ownership, and illiteracy rates.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1427285/fullmHealthperinatalIndiamaternalmobiledigital
spellingShingle Zara Small
Sophie Elizabeth Thompson
Ankita Sharma
Sreya Majumdar
Sudhir Raj Thout
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Devarsetty Praveen
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
Jane Elizabeth Hirst
Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
Frontiers in Global Women's Health
mHealth
perinatal
India
maternal
mobile
digital
title Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
title_full Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
title_fullStr Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
title_short Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review
title_sort mobile health mhealth interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in india a scoping review
topic mHealth
perinatal
India
maternal
mobile
digital
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2024.1427285/full
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