Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26649177›Full record

SynthesisJournal of global health2016

Effectiveness of mHealth interventions for maternal, newborn and child health in low- and middle-income countries: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Siew Hwa Lee, Ulugbek B Nurmatov, Bright I Nwaru, Mome Mukherjee, Liz Grant, Claudia Pagliari

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of global health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 234 papers, 29 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
234citing papers in PubMed, 29 pooled it
67.0field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

234 citing papers in PubMed, 29 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 467 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. Technologies Applied to the Mental Health Care of Pregnant Women: A Systematic Literature Review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2023
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174 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Siew Hwa LeeeHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
Ulugbek B NurmatoveHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
Bright I NwarueHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
Mome MukherjeeeHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK ; Edinburgh Health Services Research Unit, Edinburgh, UK.
Liz GrantEdinburgh Global Health Academy, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
Claudia PagliarieHealth Research Group, Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK ; Edinburgh Global Health Academy, The University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.
University of Edinburgh · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo assess the effectiveness of mHealth interventions for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

methods16 online international databases were searched to identify studies evaluating the impact of mHealth interventions on MNCH outcomes in LMIC, between January 1990 and May 2014. Comparable studies were included in a random-effects meta-analysis.

findingsOf 8593 unique references screened after de-duplication, 15 research articles and two conference abstracts met inclusion criteria, including 12 intervention and three observational studies. Only two studies were graded at low risk of bias. Only one study demonstrated an improvement in morbidity or mortality, specifically decreased risk of perinatal death in children of mothers who received SMS support during pregnancy, compared with routine prenatal care. Meta-analysis of three studies on infant feeding showed that prenatal interventions using SMS/cell phone (vs routine care) improved rates of breastfeeding (BF) within one hour after birth (odds ratio (OR) 2.01, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27-2.75, I(2) = 80.9%) and exclusive BF for three/four months (OR 1.88, 95% CI 1.26-2.50, I(2) = 52.8%) and for six months (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.46-3.68, I(2) = 0.0%). Included studies encompassed interventions designed for health information delivery (n = 6); reminders (n = 3); communication (n = 2); data collection (n = 2); test result turnaround (n = 2); peer group support (n = 2) and psychological intervention (n = 1).

conclusionsMost studies of mHealth for MNCH in LMIC are of poor methodological quality and few have evaluated impacts on patient outcomes. Improvements in intermediate outcomes have nevertheless been reported in many studies and there is modest evidence that interventions delivered via SMS messaging can improve infant feeding. Ambiguous descriptions of interventions and their mechanisms of impact present difficulties for interpretation and replication. Rigorous studies with potential to offer clearer evidence are underway.

Indexed as

Maternal-Child Health ServicesText MessagingBreast FeedingCell PhoneDeveloping CountriesFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornPerinatal CarePregnancyPrenatal CareTelemedicine

Identifiers

PMID26649177
PMCPMC4643860
OpenAlexW2257301905

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.