SynthesisBMC women's health2023
Effectiveness of mobile technology and utilization of maternal and neonatal healthcare in low and middle-income countries (LMICs): a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC women's health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Use of Technology to Support Health Care Providers Delivering Care in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Umbrella Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- 25 Years of Digital Health Toward Universal Health Coverage in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Rapid Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 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
- The impact of interactive text communication on neonatal mortality in Kenya: a randomized controlled trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- Determining the usage preferences and expectations of postpartum women regarding mobile applications developed for the postpartum period.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of skilled birth attendants in Bangladesh: A combined statistical and machine learning analysis.PloS one · 2026Article
- Maternal mHealth usability strengthened by trust, governance, and navigation.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Data science and artificial intelligence for maternal, newborn and child health: scoping review and thematic analysis.BMC public health · 2025Article
- The Effectiveness of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Gamified Intervention for Improving Maternal Health Outcomes Among Refugees and Underserved Women in Lebanon: Community Interventional Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
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- Effect of Women's Education, Information and Communication Technologies, and Income on Maternal Mortality: Evidence from BRIICS Countries.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with mother and newborn skin-to-skin contact in Afghanistan.PloS one · 2025Article
- Evaluating the impact of engaging healthcare providers in an AI-based gamified mHealth intervention for improving maternal health outcomes among disadvantaged pregnant women in Lebanon.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- Exploring two-way text messages for post-discharge follow-up and quality improvement in rural Uganda.PloS one · 2025Article
- Editorial: Mobile health interventions to address maternal health: ideas, concepts, and interventions.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
- Effectiveness and equity of mHealth apps for preeclampsia management in LMICs: A rapid review protocol.PloS one · 2024Article
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Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMaternal and neonatal mortality are important indicators of the development of a nation and pose a severe health concern, especially in developing and Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Healthcare providers use various mobile technologies as tools to provide antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care and thereby promote maternal and child health. We conducted a systematic review to critically assess the existing literature on the effectiveness of mobile phone technology in maternal and neonatal healthcare (MNH) utilization, especially in LMICs in Asia and Africa.
methodsA systematic search strategy was developed, and Boolean combinations of relevant keywords were utilized to search relevant literature on three electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, and Google Scholar) from 2012 to 2022. After assessing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25 articles were selected for systematic review. A narrative synthesis strategy was applied to summarise the information from the included literature.
resultsThis review reveals that research and evaluation studies on mobile phone or Mobile Health (mHealth) and MNH service utilization substantially varied by research designs and methodology. Most studies found that mobile phone technology is highly appreciable in improving several MNH indicators, especially in LMICs. Despite the identified benefits of mobile technology in MNH utilization, some studies also mentioned challenges related to technology use and misuse, rich-poor discrimination, and disparity in phone ownership need to be addressed.
conclusionThere is constantly increasing evidence of mobile counseling and the use of digital technology in the MNH care system. Public health practitioners and policymakers need to make efforts to smooth the functioning of technology-based healthcare services, considering all the issues related to the confidentiality and safety of health-related data on the Internet.
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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.