The DOI matches its Crossref record; 57 of the 59 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Assessing the Effect of mHealth Interventions in Improving Maternal and Neonatal Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
Open accessAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Maternal and neonatal mortality remains high in many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Availability and use of mobile phones is increasing rapidly with 90% of persons in developing countries having a mobile-cellular subscription. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been proposed as effective solutions to improve maternal and neonatal health. This systematic review assessed the effect of mHealth interventions that support pregnant women during the antenatal, birth and postnatal period in LMIC. METHODS: The review was registered with Prospero (CRD42014010292). Six databases were searched from June 2014-April 2015, accompanied by grey literature search using pre-defined search terms linked to pregnant women in LMIC and mHealth. Quality of articles was assessed with an adapted Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Because of heterogeneity in outcomes, settings and study designs a narrative synthesis of quantitative results of intervention studies on maternal outcomes, neonatal outcomes, service utilization, and healthy pregnancy education was conducted. Qualitative and quantitative results were synthesized with a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis. RESULTS: In total, 3777 articles were found, of which 27 studies were included: twelve intervention studies and fifteen descriptive studies. mHealth interventions targeted at pregnant women increased maternal and neonatal service utilization shown through increased antenatal care attendance, facility-service utilization, skilled attendance at birth, and vaccination rates. Few articles assessed the effect on maternal or neonatal health outcomes, with inconsistent results. CONCLUSION: mHealth interventions may be effective solutions to improve maternal and neonatal service utilization. Further studies assessing mHealth's impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes are recommended. The emerging trend of strong experimental research designs with randomized controlled trials, combined with feasibility research, government involvement and integration of mHealth interventions into the healthcare system is encouraging and can pave the way to improved decision making on best practice implementation of mHealth interventions.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“It also allowed for the development of an app that was locally contextualized, an important factor in the acceptance and successful adoption of mHealth projects [32,33].”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: the PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & for the PRISMA Group (2009) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.b2535 · Cited by 83,823
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses: The PRISMA Statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & The PRISMA Group (2009) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000097 · Cited by 64,042
Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses: The PRISMA statement
Moher, D., Liberati, A., Tetzlaff, J., Altman, D. G., & the PRISMA Group* (2009) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-151-4-200908180-00135 · Cited by 37,554
Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions: Cochrane Book Series
(2008) · doi:10.1002/9780470712184 · Cited by 25,048
Wang, G., Ma, R., Qiao, G., Wada, K., Aizawa, Y., & Satoh, T. (2015) · Integrative Medicine International · doi:10.1159/000368408 · Cited by 18,762
Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research: ENTREQ
Tong, A., Flemming, K., McInnes, E., Oliver, S., & Craig, J. (2012) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-181 · Cited by 3,569
Every Newborn: progress, priorities, and potential beyond survival
Lawn, J. E., Blencowe, H., Oza, S., You, D., Lee, A. C., Waiswa, P., Lalli, M., Bhutta, Z., Barros, A. J., Christian, P., et al. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60496-7 · Cited by 1,929
Vimaleswaran, K. S., Berry, D. J., Lu, C., Tikkanen, E., Pilz, S., Hiraki, L. T., Cooper, J. D., Dastani, Z., Li, R., Houston, D. K., et al. (2013) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001383 · Cited by 1,046
Exploring SWOT analysis – where are we now?
Helms, M. M., & Nixon, J. C. (2010) · Journal of strategy and management · doi:10.1108/17554251011064837 · Cited by 1,001
Lozano, R., Wang, H., Foreman, K. J., Rajaratnam, J. K., Naghavi, M., Marcus, J. R., Dwyer-Lindgren, L., Lofgren, K. T., Phillips, D., Atkinson, C., et al. (2011) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61337-8 · Cited by 880
Wang, H., Liddell, C. A., Coates, M. M., Mooney, M. D., Levitz, C. E., Schumacher, A. E., Apfel, H., Iannarone, M., Phillips, B., Lofgren, K. T., et al. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60497-9 · Cited by 799
Suzuki, E., Mathers, C. D., Moller, A., Alkema, L., Say, L., Gemmill, A., Mills, S. L., Chou, D., & Hogan, D. R. (2014) · Cited by 680
Scaling Up mHealth: Where Is the Evidence?
Tomlinson, M., Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Swartz, L., & Tsai, A. C. (2013) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001382 · Cited by 673
Aranda-Jan, C. B., Mohutsiwa-Dibe, N., & Loukanova, S. (2014) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-188 · Cited by 644
Labrique, A. B., Vasudevan, L., Kochi, E., Fabricant, R., & Mehl, G. (2013) · Global Health: Science and Practice · doi:10.9745/ghsp-d-13-00031 · Cited by 601
3.6 Million Neonatal Deaths—What Is Progressing and What Is Not?
Lawn, J. E., Kerber, K. J., Enweronu-Laryea, C. C., & Cousens, S. N. (2010) · Seminars in Perinatology · doi:10.1053/j.semperi.2010.09.011 · Cited by 441
Tamrat, T., & Kachnowski, S. (2012) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-011-0836-3 · Cited by 312
Analysis of human immune responses in quasi-experimental settings: tutorial in biostatistics
Sarkar, R., Ajjampur, S. S. R., Ward, H., Kang, G., & Naumova, E. N. (2012) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/1471-2288-12-1 · Cited by 307
Including Non‐Randomized Studies
Reeves, B. C., Deeks, J. J., Higgins, J. P. T., & Wells, G. A. (2008) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9780470712184.ch13 · Cited by 306
Mobile phones improve antenatal care attendance in Zanzibar: a cluster randomized controlled trial
Lund, S., Nielsen, B. B., Hemed, M., Boas, I. M., Said, A., Said, K., Makungu, M. H., & Rasch, V. (2014) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-29 · Cited by 301
Lund, S., Hemed, M., Nielsen, B., Said, A., Said, K., Makungu, M., & Rasch, V (2012) · BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology · doi:10.1111/j.1471-0528.2012.03413.x · Cited by 228
Vinekar, A. S., Gilbert, C. E., Dogra, M. R., Kurian, M., Shainesh, G., Shetty, B., & Bauer, N. J. C. (2014) · Indian Journal of Ophthalmology · doi:10.4103/0301-4738.126178 · Cited by 221
Mobile applications for the health sector
Miller, R. J., Qiang, C. Z., Yamamichi, M., & Hausman, V. (2012) · Cited by 176
Improvement of maternal health services through the use of mobile phones
Noordam, A. C., Kuepper, B. M., Stekelenburg, J., & Milen, A. (2011) · Tropical Medicine & International Health · doi:10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02747.x · Cited by 174
Wakadha, H., Chandir, S., Were, E. V., Rubin, A., Obor, D., Levine, O. S., Gibson, D. G., Odhiambo, F., Laserson, K. F., & Feikin, D. R. (2013) · Vaccine · doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.11.093 · Cited by 149
Effect of Short Message Service on Infant Feeding Practice
Jiang, H., Li, M., Wen, L. M., Hu, Q., Yang, D., He, G., Baur, L. A., Dibley, M. J., & Qian, X. (2014) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.58 · Cited by 136
Stockwell, M. S., Westhoff, C., Kharbanda, E. O., Vargas, C. Y., Camargo, S., Vawdrey, D. K., & Castaño, P. M. (2014) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2013.301620 · Cited by 131
Jareethum, R., Titapant, V., Chantra, T., Sommai, V., Chuenwattana, P., & Jirawan, C. (2008) · PubMed · Cited by 130
Application of smart phone in "Better Border Healthcare Program": A module for mother and child care
Kaewkungwal, J., Singhasivanon, P., Khamsiriwatchara, A., Sawang, S., Meankaew, P., & Wechsart, A. (2010) · BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making · doi:10.1186/1472-6947-10-69 · Cited by 126
Lund, S., Rasch, V., Hemed, M., Boas, I. M., Said, A., Said, K., Makundu, M. H., & Nielsen, B. B. (2014) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.2941 · Cited by 120
Flax, V. L., Negerie, M., Ibrahim, A. U., Leatherman, S. T., Daza, E. J., & Bentley, M. E. (2014) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.3945/jn.113.190124 · Cited by 109
Does telephone lactation counselling improve breastfeeding practices?: A randomised controlled trial
Tahir, N. M., & Al-Sadat, N. (2012) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.09.006 · Cited by 108
Oyeyemi, S. O., & Wynn, R. (2014) · Reproductive Health · doi:10.1186/1742-4755-11-8 · Cited by 99
Are 2 Weeks of Daily Breastfeeding Support Insufficient to Overcome the Influences of Formula?
Bunik, M. E., Shobe, P., O'Connor, M. E., Beaty, B. L., Langendoerfer, S., Crane, L. A., & Kempe, A. (2010) · Academic Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/j.acap.2009.09.014 · Cited by 97
Amankwaa, A. A., Wang, Y., Apfel, H., Iannarone, M. L., Abera, S. F., Liddell, C. A., Zhou, M., Alvarez, E., Coates, M. M., Yichong, L., et al. (2020) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/2smg-va85 · Cited by 95
Jennings, L., Ong’ech, J., Simiyu, R., Sirengo, M., & Kassaye, S. (2013) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-1131 · Cited by 93
Text4baby Program: An Opportunity to Reach Underserved Pregnant and Postpartum Women?
Gazmararian, J. A., Elon, L., Yang, B., Graham, M., & Parker, R. M. (2013) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-013-1258-1 · Cited by 88
Lau, Y. K., Cassidy, T., Hacking, D., Brittain, K., Haricharan, H. J., & Heap, M. (2014) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/1471-2393-14-284 · Cited by 79
Bullock, L., Everett, K. D., Mullen, P. D., Geden, E. A., Longo, D. R., & Madsen, R. (2008) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-008-0363-z · Cited by 73
Newborn Health on the Line: The Potential mHealth Applications
Agarwal, S., & Labrique, A. (2014) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2014.6371 · Cited by 65
Khorshid, M. R., Afshari, P., & Abedi, P. (2014) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1177/1357633x14533895 · Cited by 58
A study to assess the feasibility of Text Messaging Service in delivering
Datta, S. S., Ranganathan, P., & Sivakumar, K. (2014) · Australasian Medical Journal · doi:10.4066/amj.2014.1916 · Cited by 57
Parker, D. R., Windsor, R. A., Roberts, M. B., Hecht, J., Hardy, N., Strolla, L. O., & Lasater, T. M. (2007) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1080/14622200701591617 · Cited by 54
APN telephone follow up to low‐income first time mothers
Hannan, J. (2012) · Journal of Clinical Nursing · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.04065.x · Cited by 47
Huq, N. L., Azmi, A. J., Quaiyum, M., & Hossain, S. (2014) · Reproductive Health · doi:10.1186/1742-4755-11-52 · Cited by 46
Successful Enrollment in Text4Baby More Likely With Higher Health Literacy
Gazmararian, J. A., Yang, B., Elon, L., Graham, M., & Parker, R. M. (2012) · Journal of Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10810730.2012.712618 · Cited by 43
Dean, A. L., Makin, J. D., Kydd, A., Biriotti, M., & Forsyth, B. W. C. (2012) · Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare · doi:10.1258/jtt.2012.120118 · Cited by 42
Ross, R., Sawatphanit, W., Suwansujarid, T., Stidham, A. W., Drew, B. L., & Creswell, J. W. (2012) · Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care · doi:10.1016/j.jana.2012.08.005 · Cited by 40
Use of a Pregnancy Support Web Site by Low-Income African American Women
Herman, J., Mock, K. S., Blackwell, D. A., & Hulsey, T. (2005) · Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing · doi:10.1177/0884217505282019 · Cited by 35
Smith, C. E., Vannak, U., Sokhey, L., Ngo, T. D., Gold, J., Khut, K., Edwards, P. J., Rathavy, T., & Free, C. (2013) · Trials · doi:10.1186/1745-6215-14-427 · Cited by 34
Telephone Social Support for Low-Income Pregnant Women
Bullock, L., Browning, C., & Geden, E. A. (2002) · Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing · doi:10.1177/0884217502239217 · Cited by 26
Balogun, M. R., Sekoni, A. O., Okafor, I. P., Odukoya, O. O., Ezeiru, S. S., Ogunnowo, B. E., & Campbell, P. C. (2012) · South African Journal of Child Health · doi:10.7196/sajch.439 · Cited by 22
Use of mobile phone: Communication barriers in maternal and neonatal emergencies in rural Bangladesh
Huq, N. L. (2012) · International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology · doi:10.5897/ijsa11.134 · Cited by 21
A Newborn Baby Care Support App and System for mHealth.
Kuo, M.-C., Lu, Y.-C., & Chang, P. (2012) · PubMed · Cited by 10
Jalloh-Vos, H., Herschderfer, K., Jalloh, A. M., Ormel, H., de Koning, K. A., Kamara, S., & Wolmarans, L. (2013) · Cited by 4
Using mobile technology in community health services
Par, C. (2012) · Independent Nurse · doi:10.12968/indn.2012.7.5.91453 · Cited by 2
Research Summary. Health communication using mobile technology in Afghanistan
Action, B. M. (2013) · Cited by 1
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 59 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 5
- B Sanou, 2014, The World in 2014: ICT Facts and Figures, The World in 2014: ICT Facts and Figures
- A Labrique, 2013, 12 Common Applications and a Visual Framework, Glob Heal Sci Pract, 1, 1
- 2011, mHealth: New horizons for health through mobile technologies, Glob Obs eHealth Ser, 3, 112
- P Pathak, 2012, . India Vaccination Pilot Progress Report, Medic Mobile and Clif Bar
- The JiVitA Journal: Mobile Technology for Health in Rural Bangladesh. Center for Human Nutrition and JHU Global mHealth Initiative and the JiVitA Project. 2012.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
eHealth as the Next-Generation Perinatal Care: An Overview of the Literature
van den Heuvel, J. F. M., Groenhof, T. K. J., Veerbeek, J. H. W., van Solinge, W. W., Lely, A. T., Franx, A., & Bekker, M. N. (2018) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/jmir.9262 · Cited by 343
Bogale, B., Mørkrid, K., O’Donnell, B., Ghanem, B., Abu Ward, I., Abu Khader, K., Isbeih, M., Frost, M., Baniode, M., Hijaz, T., et al. (2020) · BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making · doi:10.1186/s12911-019-1002-x · Cited by 234
Osei, E., & Mashamba-Thompson, T. P. (2021) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06639 · Cited by 189
Chen, H., Chai, Y., Dong, L., Niu, W., & Zhang, P. (2018) · JMIR mHealth and uHealth · doi:10.2196/mhealth.8998 · Cited by 161
Integrating mHealth at point of care in low- and middle-income settings: the system perspective
Wallis, L. A., Blessing, P., Dalwai, M., & Shin, S. D. (2017) · Global Health Action · doi:10.1080/16549716.2017.1327686 · Cited by 158
Metadata
- Authors
- Sondaal, S. F. V., Browne, J. L., Amoakoh-Coleman, M., Borgstein, A., Miltenburg, A. S., Verwijs, M., & Klipstein-Grobusch, K.
- Affiliations
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Sondaal, Stephanie Felicie Victoria
- ORCID
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2016-05-04
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0154664
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4856298
- OpenAlex
- W2345359603
- Cited by
- 441
- References
- 59
- Citations by year
- 2026: 34 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 53 · 2020: 70 · 2019: 56 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 14
- FWCI
- 7.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- IHI Repository (acceptedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Fogarty International Center (D43TW009140)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Keywords
- mobile health, mobile health intervention, maternal health, newborn health, pregnant women, prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, postpartum care, health care utilization, vaccination coverage, low- and middle-income countries, maternal and neonatal outcomes, prenatal education
- MeSH terms
- Developing Countries, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant Mortality, Infant, Newborn, Male, Maternal Mortality, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Telemedicine, Perinatal Care, Cell Phone
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
