Effectiveness of mobile phone text message reminder on birth preparedness in a rural community in Kenya
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Date
2019Author
Cheptum, J
Omoni, G
Mirie, W
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background: Birth preparedness is a strategy that has been found effective in preventing obstetric delays. Use of mobile
technology can enable access and efficiency of health messages delivered during antenatal care. The mobile technology
can be more effective in conveying health messages owing to its accessibility and enables follow up.
Materials and Methods: This was a randomized control trial carried out among pregnant women attending public health
antenatal clinics in Migori County. Four health facilities were randomized. Two facilities each were randomly picked for the
study and control groups respectively. A total of 379 participants were recruited into the study. The study group participants
received a verbal message on birth preparedness and a mobile phone text message reminder one month to their expected
date of delivery. Follow up was done to both groups through their mobile phone contacts. Data was collected using an
interviewer‑administered questionnaire and analyzed using Stata version 11. Proportion tests were done to compare the groups.
Results: The success rate of the study was 90.5% (n = 343). Most of the participants (73%) were aged between 20 and
34 years. Majority of them were married (79.2%) and most of them had primary level of education. Protestant was the
predominant religion (55.2%). Housewives and businesswomen constituted 34.2% and 27%, respectively. The respondents
in the study group who were birth prepared were 74.3% (n = 136) while those in the control group were 48.1% (n = 77).
Conclusion: The use of mobile phone text message reminder in addition to verbal messages is more effective.
URI
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjog/article/viewFile/185791/175093http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/108105
Citation
Cheptum, J., Omoni, G., & Mirie, W. (2019). Effectiveness of mobile phone text message reminder on birth preparedness in a rural community in Kenya. Tropical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 36(1), 49-53.Publisher
Tropical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10385]