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Pain Management 2018
Internal Medicine 2018
International Journal of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine
ISSN: 2471-982X
Page 89
March 26-28, 2018
Vienna, Austria
JOINT EVENT
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E d i t i o n o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e o n
Internal Medicine and Patient Care
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E d i t i o n o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l C o n f e r e n c e o n
Pain Management
Volume 4
Background:
From 1990 to 2015, the number of maternal deaths
globally has dropped by 43%. Despite this, progress in attaining
MDG 5 is not remarkable in low- and middle-income countries
(LMICs). Only 52% of pregnant women in LMICs obtain WHO
recommended minimum of four antenatal consultations and the
coverage of postnatal care is relatively poor. In recent years, the
increased cellphone penetration has brought the potential for
mHealth to improve preventive maternal healthcare services. The
objective of this review is to assess the effectiveness of mHealth
solutions on a range of maternal health outcomes by categorizing
the interventions according to the types of mHealth applications.
Methods:
Three international online electronic databases
were searched between January 1, 2000 and January 25, 2016
to identify studies exploring the role of mHealth solutions in
improving preventive maternal healthcare services. Of 1262 titles
screened after duplication, 69 potentially relevant abstracts were
obtained. Out of 69 abstracts, 42 abstracts were shortlisted. Full
text of 42 articles was reviewed using data extraction sheet. A
total of 14 full text studies were included in the final analysis.
Results:
The 14 final studies were categorized in to five mHealth
applications defined in the conceptual framework. Based on
our analysis, the most reported use of mHealth was for client
education and behavior change communication, such as SMS
and voice reminders [n = 9, 65%]. The categorization provided
the understanding that much work have been done on client
education and behavior change communication. Most of the
studies showed that mHealth interventions have proven to be
effective to improve antenatal care and postnatal care services,
especially those that are aimed at changing behavior of pregnant
women and women in postnatal period. However, little evidence
exists on other type of mHealth applications.
Conclusion:
This reviewsuggests thatmHealth solutions targeted
at pregnant women and women in postnatal period can improve
preventive maternal healthcare services. However, there is a need
to conduct more controlled-trials and quasi-experimental studies
to strengthen the literature in this research area. The review
recommends that mHealth researchers, sponsors, and publishers
should prioritize the transparent reporting of interventions to
allow effective interpretation of extracted data.
anam.feroz@aku.eduRole of mHealth applications for improving antenatal
and postnatal care in low and middle income countries: a
systematic review
Anam Feroz, Shagufta Perveen
and
Wafa Aftab
Aga Khan University, Pakistan
Int J Anesth Pain Med 2018, Volume 4
DOI: 10.21767/2471-982X-C1-003