Table 1 Characteristics of included mHealth studies (n = 29).
Reference | mHealth | Condition | Participants type | Participants # | Study design | Outcome measure | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yigezu et al.48 | Mobile-based VCT | HIV VCT | VCT attendants | 144,267 | Cross-sectional - cost-effectiveness | Effectiveness—cost-effectiveness | Mobile-based VCT costs less than both facility-based and stand-alone VCTs |
Gebremariam et al.49 | SMS | Infant feeding | Parents of child-bearing age | 41 | Cross-sectional | Feasibility, acceptability | Feasible and acceptable option for knowledge sharing and awareness |
Starr et al.50 | mHealth | Post-surgery follow-up | Patients on post-surgery follow-up | 701 | Cohort, prospective | Feasibility | Telephone follow-up after surgery is feasible and valuable |
Jadhav et al.51 | Own mobile phone | Contraceptive | Women of reproductive age | 15,683 | Cross-sectional, retrospective | Effectiveness— Contraceptive uptake | No association between mobile phone ownership and contraceptive uptake |
Bradley et al.52 | Smartphone | Post-surgery follow-up | Patients on post-surgery follow-up | 24 | Cohort | Feasibility | smartphones were low-cost, reliable method to follow-up patient after surgery |
Nesemann et al.53 | Smartphone-CellScope device for conjunctival photograph | Trachomatous inflammation - follicular | Children aged 1–9 yrs | 412 | Cross-sectional | Effectiveness | 84.1% sensitive 97.6% specific |
Tadesse et al.54 | mHealth- based e-Partograph | Obstetric care | Healthcare professionals | 466 | Cross-sectional | Willingness | 46% willing to use mobile-phone for e-Partograph |
Kassa et al.55 | Own mobile phone | Postnatal care | Women in postnatal care | 370 | Cross-sectional | Knowledge, attitude | 3x higher odds of positive attitude to preconception in women who own phone |
Kebede et al.56 | SMS or voice call reminder | Postnatal appointment | Women in postnatal care | 700 | RCT | Effectiveness— Postnatal compliance | 3x higher odds of postnatal compliance in women who received a reminder |
Thomsen et al.57 | mHealth-based Safe Delivery App | Delivery | Healthcare professionals | 56 | Cross-sectional | Usability—user experience | The App improved providers’ delivery knowledge and skills |
Jemere et al.58 | mHealth-based health services | Diabetes | Patients with diabetes | 423 | Cross-sectional | Willingness, access, | 78% had a phone; 71% willing to receive mHealth-based diabetes services |
Habtamu et al.59 | Smartphone-based Contrast Sensitivity Test ((PeekCS) | Contrast Sensitivity (CS) | Adults with trachomatous trichiasis | 147 | RCT | Effectiveness | It is repeatable, rapid, accessible and easy to perform CS testing. |
Endebu et al.60 | SMS to support medication adherence | HIV/AIDS | people living with HIV/AIDS receiving antiretroviral treatment | 420 | Cross-sectional | Feasibility, acceptability | High (90.9%) acceptability of SMS on adherence to antiretroviral therapy |
Quinonez et al.61 | MiGene Family History App | Medical genetics services | Healthcare professionals | 47 | Cross-sectional | Feasibility | The App was useful for the collection and analysis of genetics data. |
Endehabtu et al.62 | SMS-based intervention | Antenatal care | Women in antenatal care | 416 | Cross-sectional | Willingness access, | 36% had smartphones; 71% willing to receive SMS-based antenatal care intervention |
Mengesha et al.63 | mHealth-based HMIS | Data use | Health extension workers | 62 | Cross-sectional | Data quality, user experience | mHealth-based HMIS improved data quality, data flow, patient follow-up. |
Steege et al.64 | mHealth-based data and reminder | TB | Health extension workers | 19 | Cross-sectional | Quality—healthcare delivery | Improved community TB and maternal health service delivery |
Martindale et al.65 | MeasureSMS- morbidity reporting tool | lymphatic filariasis, podoconiosis | Healthcare professionals | 59 | Cross-sectional, comparative | Effectiveness, cost, time | MeasureSMS tool was more effective, 13.7% less costly than paper-based reporting |
Abate et al.66 | Telepathology Acquiring microscopic images using a smartphone camera | blood cell count, malaria lab diagnosis | Healthcare professionals | 2 | Cross-sectional | Usability, accuracy | It was fast, cost-effective, and accurate in low resource setting. |
Shiferaw et al.67 | mHealth-based data collection | Maternal health service | Healthcare professionals | 15 | Experimental/ Implementation | Effectiveness | Timely and complete maternal health data |
Atnafu et al.68 | SMS-based data exchange Ap. | Antenatal care | Women on antenatal care | 3240 | RCT | Effectiveness—MCH outcomes | 9% increased deliveries attended by skilled health workers |
Mableson et al.69 | MeasureSMS-Morbidity reporting tool | Lymphatic filariasis (LF) case estimate | People with LF clinical manifestations | 400,000 | Cross-sectional | Usability as a reporting tool | The tool improved survey and reporting of clinical burden of LF |
Medhanyie et al.70 | Smartphones for collecting patient data | Maternal health records | Healthcare professional | 25 | Cross-sectional | Usability | 8% improved data completeness compered with paper records |
Shiferaw et al.71 | Locally customized mHealth App. | Delivery and postnatal care | Women on ANC | 2261 | Cohort | Quality—ANC services utilization | The App improved delivery in health centers, but not ANC visits |
Lund et al.72 | mHealth safe delivery App (SDA) | Perinatal and neonatal survival | Women in active labor, provider | 3777 | RCT | Quality—Perinatal mortality | The SDA nonsignificantly lowered perinatal mortality compared with standard |
Kebede et al.73 | SMS medication reminders | HIV | HIV patients on ART | 415 | Cross-sectional | Willingness, access | 76% owned cellphone 50.9% willing to receive SMS medication reminder |
Medhanyie et al.74 | Smartphone-based data records | Maternal health | Healthcare professionals | 24 | Cross-sectional | Usability | The records were useful for day-to-day maternal healthcare services delivery |
Desta et al.75 | mVedio for behavior change | Maternal and newborn health | Community members | 540 | Cross-sectional. | Effectiveness— Community behavior change | mViedo changed community behavior change on maternal and newborn health in rural Ethiopia |
Little et al.76 | Smartphone open-source health App. | maternal health | Healthcare professionals | 37 | Cohort | Feasibility—Technical needs | Ownership and empowerment are prerequisites for a successful mHealth program |
