Effectiveness of an SMS-based maternal mHealth intervention to improve clinical outcomes of HIV-positive pregnant women |
| |
| Authors: | Jesse Coleman Kate C Bohlin Anna Thorson Vivian Black Patricia Mechael Josie Mangxaba |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;2. Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Swedenjesse.coleman@ki.se http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3601-7854;3. Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden;4. Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Swedenhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-8703-6561;5. Department of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africahttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-2274-8581;6. HealthEnabled, Personal Connected Health Alliance, Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University, Arlington, VA, USAhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-1034-0549;7. Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action, United Nations Foundation, Washington, DC, USA |
| |
| Abstract: | We conducted a retrospective study to investigate the effectiveness of an mHealth messaging intervention aiming to improve maternal health and HIV outcomes. Maternal health SMSs were sent to 235 HIV-infected pregnant women twice per week in pregnancy and continued until the infant’s first birthday. The messages were timed to the stage of the pregnancy/infant age and covered maternal health and HIV-support information. Outcomes, measured as antenatal care (ANC) visits, birth outcomes and infant HIV testing, were compared to a control group of 586 HIV-infected pregnant women who received no SMS intervention. Results showed that intervention participants attended more ANC visits (5.16 vs. 3.95, p?p?=?0.06) and a lower mean infant age in weeks at HIV PCR testing (9.5 weeks vs. 11.1 weeks, p?=?0.14). These results add to the growing evidence that mHealth interventions can have a positive impact on health outcomes and should be scaled nationally following comprehensive evaluation. |
| |
| Keywords: | HIV maternal health mHealth vertical infectious disease transmission global health |
|
|
