Trial reportJMIR mHealth and uHealth2022
The Effects of Theory-Based Educational Intervention and WhatsApp Follow-up on Papanicolaou Smear Uptake Among Postnatal Women in Malaysia: Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Electronic Health Interventions and Cervical Cancer Screening: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- WhatsApp-Supported Teledentistry to Reinforce Oral Health Promotion Among Older Adults Residing in Rural and Urban Areas: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Trial
- Educational WhatsApp-delivered intervention based on social cognitive theory to promote leishmaniosis preventive behavior of health ambassadors: a randomized controlled trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Trial
- Telehealth Pathways for Cervical Cancer Prevention: A Scoping Review of Strategies to Close the Screening Gap.International journal of women's health · 2026Review
- The impact of theory-based educational interventions: A three-arm randomized controlled trial comparing face-to-face, mobile-based, and control approaches on pap smear acceptance.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Effect of a Nurse-Led Educational Intervention on the Knowledge, Perceptions and Uptake of Cervical Cancer Screening among HIV-Infected Women in Kenya.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Article
- "Salud Mamaria", an internet-based psychoeducational program during the breast cancer diagnosis process: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators of retention in care after cervical cancer screening: patients' and healthcare providers' perspectives.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Validity of a questionnaire on self-efficacy for Pap test adherence screening.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the availability and accessibility of free Papanicolaou (Pap) smear as a screening tool for cervical cancer, the uptake of Pap smear in Malaysia has not changed in the last 15 years. Previous studies have shown that the high uptake of Pap smear reduces the mortality rate of patients with cervical cancer. The low uptake of Pap smear is multifactorial, and the problem could be minimized through the use of mobile technologies. Nevertheless, most intervention studies focused on individual factors, while other important aspects such as mobile technologies, especially WhatsApp, have not been investigated yet.
objectiveThis study aims to determine the effects of a theory-based educational intervention and WhatsApp follow-up (Pap smear uptake [PSU] intervention) in improving PSU among postnatal women in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia.
methodsA 2-arm, parallel single-blind cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted among postpartum women from the Seremban district. Twelve health clinics were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. At baseline, both groups received a self-administered questionnaire. The intervention group received standard care and PSU intervention delivered by a researcher. This 2-stage intervention module was developed based on Social Cognitive Theory, where the first stage was conducted face-to-face and the second stage included a WhatsApp follow-up. The control group received standard care. Participants were observed immediately and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the intervention. The primary endpoint was PSU, whereas the secondary endpoints were knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy scores for Pap smear screening self-assessed using a Google Forms questionnaire. A generalized mixed model was used to determine the effectiveness of the intervention. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS (version 25), and P value of .05 was considered statistically significant.
resultsWe analyzed 401 women, of whom 76 (response rate: 325/401, 81%) had withdrawn because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a total of 162 respondents in the intervention group and 163 respondents in the control group. The proportion of Pap smears at the 12-week follow-up was 67.9% (110/162) in the intervention group versus 39.8% (65/163) in the control group (P<.001). Significant differences between the intervention and control groups were found for Pap smear use (F
conclusionsThis study demonstrated that the PSU intervention is effective in increasing the uptake of Pap smear among postnatal women in Seremban district, Malaysia. This intervention module can be tested in other populations of women.
trial registrationThai Clinical Trials Registry TCTR20200205001; https://www.thaiclinicaltrials.org/show/TCTR20200205001.
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