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Cited by 88Mobile Health and mHealth ApplicationsMaternal and fetal healthcareICT in Developing Communities

Using cell phones to collect postpartum hemorrhage outcome data in rural Ghana

Open access
Andreatta, Pamela, Debpuur, Domatilla, Danquah, Abraham, Perosky, Joseph·2011·International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
DOI 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.11.020
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Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the use of cell phones by professional and traditional birth attendants in rural Africa for reporting postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) data. Methods: Ten birth attendants from the remote Sene District of Ghana participated in the study. Subjects were trained to send Short Message Service text messages from cell phones using a simple numeric protocol to report data regarding PPH: maternal age; PPH; use of bimanual uterine compression; maternal and neonatal mortality; and prenatal care. Participants sent texts to a pre‐programmed number to report data for all births they attended over a 90‐day period. Results: In total, 425 births and 13 (3.1%) cases of PPH were reported during the 90‐day period after training. All attendants followed the reporting protocol correctly, although with uncertain data integrity. Conclusion: The results indicate that it is possible to train professional and traditional birth attendants to use cell phones to report health‐related outcome data via a specified protocol. Reporting from rural‐based providers may present a more accurate picture of what occurs in remote communities because it happens in real time. These findings could be exportable to other program evaluation or population‐monitoring applications (healthcare and other) where rural outcome tracking is necessary.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.11.020

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  • Most studies conducted in LMICs involved the use of short message service (SMS) and voice communication to improve CHWs performance.

    “Most studies conducted in LMICs involved the use of short message service (SMS) and voice communication to improve CHWs performance [13, 14].”

    From Using mobile phones to improve community health workers performance in low-and-middle-income countries (2020) · cites this paper as [13]

    The Methods and Results describe birth attendants in rural Ghana using SMS to report health outcomes. The paper does not establish that most LMIC studies used SMS and voice communication, and it does not measure an improvement in community health workers’ performance; the Discussion describes phone calls as a potential use rather than a tested intervention. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • In rural Ghana, CHWs trained to collect postpartum hemorrhage outcome data using basic mobile phones reported 3.1% cases of PPH during the 90-day period, which indicated improvement in CHWs performance.

    “In rural Ghana, CHWs were trained to collect postpartum hemorrhage outcome data using basic mobile phones. CHWs reported 3.1% cases of PPH during the 90-day period, which indicated improvement in CHWs performance [13].”

    From Using mobile phones to improve community health workers performance in low-and-middle-income countries (2020) · cites this paper as [13]

    The Methods describe training rural Ghanaian birth attendants to report outcomes using basic GSM phones, and the Results report 13 PPH cases (3.1%) among 425 births over 90 days. The Results show that attendants used the reporting protocol, but the paper does not establish that their performance improved over time; the Discussion also cautions that the reported outcomes may be affected by underreporting. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Generally, the use of basic mobile phone was preferred in LMICs to improve CHWs workflows.

    “Generally, the use of basic mobile phone was preferred in LMICs to improve CHWs workflows [13, 17, 18].”

    From Using mobile phones to improve community health workers performance in low-and-middle-income countries (2020) · cites this paper as [13]

    The Methods section (page unavailable) says the Ghana study selected basic GSM handsets for SMS reporting, and the Results section reports that birth attendants used them to submit clinical outcomes. The paper does not establish that basic phones were generally preferred across LMICs or demonstrate improved CHW workflows beyond this reporting task. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [3]3. Germanakos P, Mourlas C, Samaras G. A Mobile Agent Approach for Ubiquitous and Personalized e-health Information Systems. Proceedings of the Workshop on "Personalization for e-Health" of the 10th International Conference on User Modeling. Edinburgh; 2005.

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Authors
Andreatta, P., Debpuur, D., Danquah, A., & Perosky, J.
Affiliations
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • Ghana Health Service (GH)
Corresponding author
Andreatta, Pamela
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2011-03-21
Volume
113
Issue
2
Pages
148-151
ISSN
  • 0020-6695 (ISSN-L)
  • 0020-7292
  • 1879-3479
DOI
10.1016/j.ijgo.2010.11.020
OpenAlex
W2048543768
Cited by
88
References
18
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 3
FWCI
10.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Deep Blue (University of Michigan) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
  • University of Michigan
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Maternal and fetal healthcare
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
Keywords
postpartum hemorrhage, mobile health, mobile devices, birth attendants, traditional birth attendants, maternal mortality, neonatal mortality, prenatal care
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Data Collection, Female, Ghana, Postpartum Hemorrhage, Humans, Infant Mortality, Infant, Newborn, Maternal Mortality, Middle Aged, Midwifery, Pilot Projects, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Rural Health Services, Cell Phone, Young Adult

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