ReviewDigital health
Exploring the ambivalent evidence base of mobile health (mHealth): A systematic literature review on the use of mobile phones for the improvement of community health in Africa.
Review in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled 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
- An Interactive Voice Response Software to Improve the Quality of Life of People Living With HIV in Uganda: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2021Trial
- Mobile Heat Early Warning System for Pregnant and Postpartum Women in South Africa: Prospective Observational Evaluation Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Observational
- Adaptation of a Smartphone-Based Mobile Health Program to Support Person-Centered Treatment of Tuberculosis in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: Preimplementation Qualitative Needs Assessment.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- 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
- Evaluating barriers to reaching women with public health information in remote communities in Mali.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Evaluating the World Health Organization's SkinNTDs App as a Training Tool for Skin Neglected Tropical Diseases in Ghana and Kenya: Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Understanding the impact of mOxford open digital health · 2024Article
- Improving Predictability and Effectiveness in Preventive Digital Health Interventions: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Thinking Beyond the Device: An Overview of Human- and Equity-Centered Approaches for Health Technology Design.Annual review of biomedical engineering · 2023Review
- The promise of digital health technologies for integrated care for maternal and child health and non-communicable diseases.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Digital Health Technologies for Maternal and Child Health in Africa and Other Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Cross-disciplinary Scoping Review With Stakeholder Consultation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Identifying developments over a decade in the digital health and telemedicine landscape in the UK using quantitative text mining.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
- Understanding the Drivers of Ghanaian Citizens' Adoption Intentions of Mobile Health Services.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- The 4 Youth By Youth mHealth Photo Verification App for HIV Self-testing in Nigeria: Qualitative Analysis of User Experiences.JMIR formative research · 2021Article
- Design of a FAIR digital data health infrastructure in Africa for COVID-19 reporting and research.Advanced genetics (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Article
- Acceptability, Barriers and Facilitators of Mobile Text Message Reminder System Implementation in Improving Child Vaccination: A Qualitative Study in Northwest Ethiopia.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2021Article
- Khuluma: Using Participatory, Peer-Led and Digital Methods to Deliver Psychosocial Support to Young People Living With HIV in South Africa.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2021Article
- Perspectives on a mobile application that maps assistive technology resources in Africa.African journal of disability · 2019Article
- Using mHealth to Deliver a Home-Based Testing and Counseling Program to Improve Linkage to Care and ART Adherence in Rural South Africa.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAfrica is labelled the world's fastest-growing 'mobile region'. Considering such growth and the fragility of the continent's healthcare, mHealth has flourished. This review explores mHealth for community health in Africa in order to assess its still ambivalent evidence base.
methodsUsing PubMed, Web of Science, OvidSP and Google Scholar, a systematic review was conducted of one decade (2005-2015) of peer-reviewed literature on mHealth in Africa. Data analysis focused on qualifications of success and failure. Impact evaluations of project assessments (
resultsReview of these texts reveals ambivalence in the appraisal of mHealth; essentially, the critical stance in general analyses/overviews is absent from project assessments. Especially weak evidence concerning sustainability and scalability is stressed in overviews. Project assessments are more optimistic. Their analysis suggests a causal connection between simplicity and success. Effective interventions are thus characterized by straightforward design and modest objectives. Greatest impediments of impact are general technology-related issues and intervention inappropriateness due to insufficient understanding of beneficiaries and specific context of use (circumstantial complications).
conclusionDistinguishing between these two categories of complications helps to break the deadlock that marks the mHealth debate and add nuance to claims that mHealth's evidence base is weak. Constructive realism - rather than unfounded optimism or pessimism without nuance - should guide the design of interventions. Besides anticipative of technology-related complications, such realism must lead to either basic interventions or to smart mHealth shaped by deep understanding of the context of implementation.
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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.