Washington D.C. [USA], May 3 : Researchers have found that 'Babyscripts', a prenatal mobile app decreased the number of in-person prenatal care visits while maintaining patient and provider satisfaction.
The study was published in JMIR (Journal of Medical Information Research) mHealth and uHealth.
"Prenatal care is one of the most widely utilised preventative health care services; however there is little research on the effectiveness of standard prenatal care. We wanted to re-evaluate the model for low-risk pregnancies and see if a mobile prenatal app could remove barriers to access and reduce the burden on patients and the health care system," said Kathryn Marko, first author of the study.
Mobile health apps have the potential to transform health care. Studies have shown mobile technology can improve disease management for diabetes self-care activities, HIV infection medication adherence, and sickle cell anaemia medication adherence.
The research team, led by Marko, hypothesised that mobile health apps could be just as transformative for prenatal care.
The Babyscripts app was built to deliver educational content and remotely monitor blood pressure and weight. The app gave patients information on topics like nutrition and breastfeeding, but also gave patients and providers early warnings about hypertension or abnormal weight gain, which could indicate gestational diabetes, nutritional deficiency, or edema associated with preeclampsia.
Eligible participants were women between 18-40 years of age and considered low-risk, a singleton pregnancy with no previous diagnosis of hypertension, diabetes, renal disease, collagen vascular disease, maternal substance abuse, or other previously documented condition that could potentially lead to a poor pregnancy outcome.
A total of 88 low-risk patients were enrolled in the study. Patients who used the app saw their obstetrician an average of 7.8 times. Patients who did not use the app saw their obstetrician an average of 10.2 times. There was no statistical difference in patient or provider satisfaction in either group.
"While the results of our study were largely positive, more research is needed to determine the connection between mobile prenatal apps and maternal or foetal outcomes. There is a lot more potential for use of mobile prenatal apps for both patients and providers," said Andrew Meltzer, co-author of the study.