Trial reportPloS one2018
Impact of smartphone-assisted prenatal home visits on women's use of facility delivery: Results from a cluster-randomized trial in rural Tanzania.
Trial report in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03161184 (Evaluation of an mHealth Intervention to Improve Women's Access to Maternal Health Services in Rural Tanzania), which is not on this map. Cited by 31 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Evaluation of an mHealth Intervention to Improve Women's Access to Maternal Health Services in Rural Tanzania
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital tracking, provider decision support systems, and targeted client communication via mobile devices to improve primary health care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- The mHealth clinical decision-making tools for maternal and perinatal health care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of short message service reminders in improving optimal antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and postnatal care in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluating the Adoption of mHealth Technologies by Community Health Workers to Improve the Use of Maternal Health Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of mHealth interventions on maternal, newborn, and child health from conception to 24 months postpartum in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- mHealth interventions to reduce maternal and child mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia: A systematic literature review.Frontiers in global women's health · 2022Pooled it
- The effect of an interactive mobile health intervention to improve community-based essential neonatal care practices among postpartum women in northeast Ethiopia: a cluster randomized controlled trial.International health · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Improving health care facility birth rates in Rorya District, Tanzania: a multiple baseline trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2022Trial
- Use of mobile technology by frontline health workers to promote reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition: a cluster randomized controlled Trial in Bihar, India.Journal of global health · 2019Trial
- mHealth intervention "ImTeCHO" to improve delivery of maternal, neonatal, and child care services-A cluster-randomized trial in tribal areas of Gujarat, India.PLoS medicine · 2019Trial
- Efficacy of a Digital Health Tool on Contraceptive Ideation and Use in Nigeria: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Control Trial.Global health, science and practice · 2019Trial
- Experiences of a multiple intervention trial to increase maternity care access in rural Tanzania: Focus group findings with women, nurses and community health workers.Women's health (London, England)Trial
- Prevalence and factors associated with institutional delivery in rural Afghanistan: secondary analysis of the 2022-2023 multiple indicator cluster survey.Reproductive health · 2026Article
- Monitoring of Pregnant Women Using the "Risk Identification, Evaluation Counseling, Systematic Monitoring, Troubleshooting" (REST) Mobile App: Protocol for a Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Access to digital media and devices among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa: A multicountry, school-based survey.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Transforming women's health, empowerment, and gender equality with digital health: evidence-based policy and practice.The Lancet. Digital health · 2025Review
- Impact of Mobile Health (mHealth) Use by Community Health Workers on the Utilization of Maternity Care in Rural Malawi: A Time Series Analysis.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Prenatal mobile applications reported in the scientific literature: a scoping review.Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da U S P · 2025Article
- A systematic review of behaviour change interventions to improve maternal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAbout half of births in rural Tanzania are assisted by skilled providers. Point-of-care mobile phone applications hold promise in boosting job support for community health workers aiming to ensure safe motherhood through increased facility delivery awareness, access and uptake. We conducted a controlled comparison to evaluate a smartphone-based application designed to assist community health workers with data collection, education delivery, gestational danger sign identification, and referrals.
methodsCommunity health workers in 32 randomly selected villages were cluster-randomized to training on either smartphone (intervention) or paper-based (control) protocols for use during household visits with pregnant women. The primary outcome measure was postnatal report of delivery location by 572 women randomly selected to participate in a survey conducted by home visit. A mixed-effects model was used to account for clustering of subjects and other measured factors influencing facility delivery.
findingsThe smartphone intervention was associated with significantly higher facility delivery: 74% of mothers in intervention areas delivered at or in transit to a health facility, versus 63% in control areas. The odds of facility delivery among women counseled by smartphone-assisted health workers were double the odds among women living in control villages (OR, 1.96; CI, 1.21-3.19; adjusted analyses). Women in intervention areas were more likely to receive two or more visits from a community health worker during pregnancy than women in the control group (72% vs. 60%; chi-square = 6.9; p < 0.01). Previous facility delivery, uptake of antenatal care, and distance to the nearest facility were also strong independent predictors of facility delivery.
interpretationCommunity health worker use of smartphones increased facility delivery, likely through increased frequency of prenatal home visits. Smartphone-based job aids may enhance community health worker support and effectiveness as one component of intervention packages targeting safe motherhood.
trial registrationNCT03161184.
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Registered trials
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.