ArticleBMC global and public health2024
Change in sexual and reproductive health knowledge among young women using the conversational agent "Nthabi" in Lesotho: a clinical trial.
Article in BMC global and public health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04354168 (Women's mHealth Program), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
Women's mHealth Program: Nthabi Application in Lesotho
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Promoting Family Communication for Cascade Cancer Genetic Testing With Relational Agent Role-Play: Quasi-Experimental Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Adolescent effective access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of legal, institutional and sociocultural barriers.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Change in sexual and reproductive health knowledge among young women using the conversational agent "Nthabi" in Lesotho: a clinical trial.BMC global and public health · 2024Article
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- Update of
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundYoung women worldwide face problems like unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Providing sexual and reproductive health education to young women in low- and middle-income countries is a priority. It is unknown if using digital health interventions to deliver health education is effective in resource-constrained settings.
methodsWe conducted an interventional trial among young women in the low-middle-income country of Lesotho to test the impact of the conversational agent system ("Nthabi") designed to deliver sexual and reproductive health information on either a smartphone or tablet for up to 6 weeks. We measured participant's knowledge before and after the discussion of family planning, folic acid use, and healthy eating. The main outcome measure was a change in knowledge among participants in these three topic areas. The number of correct pre- and post-test responses was compared using generalized linear models that directly estimated the proportions and percentages of correct responses.
resultsWe recruited 172 young women (mean age 22.5 years, 91% unmarried, 69% completed high school, 23% unemployed, 66% students) to use Nthabi on a mobile phone (11.6%) or loaned tablet device (88.4%). The mean number of interactions with Nthabi was 8.6. Family planning was chosen to be discussed by 82 of the 172 participants (52.2%), and of those, 49 (31.2%) completed the content on this topic, and 26 (16.6) completed the post-test. For the 11 questions about family planning, the total percent of correct responses increased from 85.5% (796 total responses) on the pre-test to 89.9% (320 responses) on the post-test (p = 0.0233). Folic acid use was chosen to be discussed by 74 (47.1%) of 172 participants, and of those, 27 (17.7%) completed the content on this topic, and all 27 (17.7%) completed the post-test. For the 5 questions about folic acid use, the total percent of correct responses was 45.3% (181 total responses) on the pre-test and 71.6% (111 responses) on the post-test (p < 0.0001).
conclusionsThe Nthabi conversational agent system increased knowledge of family planning methods and folic acid use among young women in Lesotho. Digital health interventions like Nthabi have the potential to offer new ways to deliver reproductive health information.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov registration April 20, 2020; ID: NCT04354168 .
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