Mobile Health Interventions for Modifying Indigenous Maternal and Child–Health Related Behaviors: Systematic Review

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) interventions promoting healthy lifestyle changes offer an adaptable and inexpensive method for accessing health information but require cultural appropriateness and suitability for acceptance and effectiveness in Indigenous populations. No systematic review on effective mHealth interventions for Indigenous women during pregnancy and the early childhood years has been conducted. Objective: This review evaluated the effectiveness of mHealth interventions promoting healthy behaviors for Indigenous mothers and children from conception to 5 years post partum. It also aimed to explore the observed effectiveness differences based on participant engagement, intervention design, and provision of context. Further, the review explored if the interventions were co-designed. Methods: A systematic search of 5 databases was conducted: SCOPUS, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and ProQuest (Dissertation or Thesis). Studies were included if they were either a randomized controlled trial, pre-post comparison, or a cohort study using mHealth with Indigenous women for maternal and child health following a preregistered PROSPERO protocol (CRD42023395710). HealthInfoNet was searched for gray literature and the reference lists of included studies were hand searched. The initial title and abstract screen for eligibility were performed by 1 reviewer. A full-text screen of eligible studies and a quality appraisal of included studies was performed by 2 reviewers independently. The appraisal tools used were the Mixed Methods Quality Appraisal Tool and the Centre of Excellence in Aboriginal Chronic Disease Knowledge Translation and Exchange (CREATE). A descriptive synthesis of the extracted data was performed. Results: Of the 663 articles screened, only 3 met the eligibility criteria. Each paper evaluated a different mHealth intervention: Remote Prenatal Education; the SMS Parent Action Intervention (two-way text messaging); and the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) eCHECKUP To Go (web-based screening and intervention). Statistically significant changes were reported in some outcomes, including an increase in the parental participation rate in face-to-face prenatal education; increased rate of breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding (2-12 months); improved overall children’s behavior related to sleep, diet, physical activity, screen time, and intake of sugary beverages; improved individual children’s behavior related to physical activity and sleep; and decrease in alcohol drinks per week and binge drinking episodes per 2 weeks due to time effect. However, no study provided a sample size calculation for the reported significant outcomes. Also, due to the small number of included studies and each study evaluating a different intervention, it was not possible to combine results to ascertain if the participant engagement, intervention design, or community context had any impact on the effectiveness. Conclusions: Due to the lack of sample size calculation, it was not possible to establish whether differences in the effectiveness were due to the interventions or a type I statistical error. Therefore, caution is required in the interpretation of these findings.

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