SynthesisPloS one2022
The effectiveness and characteristics of mHealth interventions to increase adolescent's use of Sexual and Reproductive Health services in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing the impact of SMS-based interventions in promoting family planning uptake and modern contraceptive utilization in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring the Use of Digital Educational Tools for Sexual and Reproductive Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Pooled it
- Are facility service delivery models meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa? A qualitative evidence synthesis.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Perspectives of health care professionals' on delivering mHealth sexual and reproductive health services in rural settings in low-and-middle-income countries: a qualitative systematic review.BMC health services research · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Unmet need for contraceptives and unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls and young women aged 15 to 24 in Zambia: insights from the Yathu Yathu trial.Reproductive health · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of an online sexual and reproductive health educational program on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among senior primary school students: a cluster randomized controlled trial.Reproductive health · 2025Trial
- The Implementation of a GPS-Based Location-Tracking Smartphone App in South Africa to Improve Engagement in HIV Care: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Trial
- "I am not shy anymore": A qualitative study of the role of an interactive mHealth intervention on sexual health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of South African adolescents with perinatal HIV.Reproductive health · 2022Trial
- Mapping the use of interactive voice response (IVR) in healthcare in Africa: a scoping review protocol.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Scoping review of artificial intelligence via mobile technology and social media for health in Africa.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Effect of a digital intervention on sexual and reproductive health knowledge, behaviour, and service uptake among university youths in Lagos, Nigeria: a quasi-experimental study.Reproductive health · 2025Article
- How do social norms influence the sexual and reproductive health-related attitudes and behaviours of very young adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa? A scoping review.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mobile phone ownership among young adults in seven Southern African countries.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- User-centered adaption ofAIDS care · 2025Article
- WhatsApp-based sexual and reproductive health education for adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV: lessons learned from an mHealth pilot intervention in South Africa.Sex education · 2025Article
- Sexual and reproductive health service use of unmarried adolescents in Morogoro, Tanzania: insights from a cross-sectional household survey.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Article
- Efficacy of Digital Health Interventions Used for Adolescent's Sexual Health: An Umbrella Review.Health science reports · 2024Review
- Influence of socio-contextual factors on the link between traditional and new media use, and young people's sexual risk behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa: a secondary data analysis.Reproductive 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
8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundmHealth innovations have been proposed as an effective solution to improving adolescent access to and use of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services; particularly in regions with deeply entrenched traditional social norms. However, research demonstrating the effectiveness and theoretical basis of the interventions is lacking.
aimOur aim was to describe mHealth intervention components, assesses their effectiveness, acceptability, and cost in improving adolescent's uptake of SRH services in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
methodsThis paper is based on a systematic review. Twenty bibliographic databases and repositories including MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL, were searched using pre-defined search terms. Of the 10, 990 records screened, only 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. The mERA checklist was used to critically assess the transparency and completeness in reporting of mHealth intervention studies. The behaviour change components of mHealth interventions were coded using the taxonomy of Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs). The protocol was registered in the 'International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews' (PROSPERO-CRD42020179051).
resultsThe results showed that mHealth interventions were effective and improved adolescent's uptake of SRH services across a wide range of services. The evidence was strongest for contraceptive use. Interventions with two-way interactive functions and more behaviour change techniques embedded in the interventions improved adolescent uptake of SRH services to greater extent. Findings suggest that mHealth interventions promoting prevention or treatment adherence for HIV for individuals at risk of or living with HIV are acceptable to adolescents, and are feasible to deliver in SSA. Limited data from two studies reported interventions were inexpensive, however, none of the studies evaluated cost-effectiveness.
conclusionThere is a need to develop mHealth interventions tailored for adolescents which are theoretically informed and incorporate effective behaviour change techniques. Such interventions, if low cost, have the potential to be a cost-effective means to improve the sexual and reproductive health outcomes in SSA.
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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.