Department of Community Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria.
Center for Translation and Implementation Research, University of Nigeria Nsukka, Enugu, Nigeria.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023 Mar 22;23(1):198. doi: 10.1186/s12884-023-05494-9.
Poor maternal, newborn and child health outcomes remain a major public health challenge in Nigeria. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions such as patient-held smart cards have been proposed as effective solutions to improve maternal health outcomes. Our objectives were to assess the acceptability and experiences of pregnant women with the use of a patient-held smartcard for antenatal services in Nigeria.
Using focus group discussions, qualitative data were obtained from 35 pregnant women attending antenatal services in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Benue State, Nigeria. The audio-recorded data were transcribed and analyzed using framework analysis techniques such as the PEN-3 cultural model as a guide.
The participants were 18-44 years of age (median age: 24 years), all were married and the majority were farmers. Most of the participants had accepted and used the smartcards for antenatal services. The most common positive perceptions about the smartcards were their ability to be used across multiple health facilities, the preference for storage of the women's medical information on the smartcards compared to the usual paper-based system, and shorter waiting times at the clinics. Notable facilitators to using the smartcards were its provision at the "Baby showers" which were already acceptable to the women, access to free medical screenings, and ease of storage and retrieval of health records from the cards. Costs associated with health services was reported as a major barrier to using the smartcards. Support from health workers, program staff and family members, particularly spouses, encouraged the participants to use the smartcards.
These findings revealed that patient-held smart card for maternal health care services is acceptable by women utilizing antenatal services in Nigeria. Understanding perceptions, barriers, facilitators, and supportive systems that enhance the use of these smart cards may facilitate the development of lifesaving mobile health platforms that have the potential to achieve antenatal, delivery, and postnatal targets in a resource-limited setting.
在尼日利亚，产妇、新生儿和儿童健康状况不佳仍然是一个主要的公共卫生挑战。移动医疗（mHealth）干预措施，如患者持有的智能卡，已被提议作为改善产妇健康结果的有效解决方案。我们的目的是评估尼日利亚孕妇使用患者持有的智能卡在产前服务中的可接受性和体验。
使用焦点小组讨论，从尼日利亚贝努埃州四个地方政府区（LGAs）参加产前服务的 35 名孕妇中获得定性数据。使用框架分析技术（如 PEN-3 文化模型）对录音数据进行转录和分析。
参与者年龄在 18-44 岁之间（中位数年龄：24 岁），均已婚，大多数是农民。大多数参与者接受并使用智能卡在产前服务。对智能卡的最常见正面看法是它们能够在多个卫生设施使用，与通常的基于纸张的系统相比，更喜欢将妇女的医疗信息存储在智能卡上，以及在诊所等待时间更短。使用智能卡的明显促进因素是它在“婴儿送礼会”上的提供，这些已经为妇女所接受，免费提供医疗筛查，以及从卡中轻松存储和检索健康记录。与健康服务相关的费用被报告为使用智能卡的主要障碍。卫生工作者、项目工作人员和家庭成员的支持，特别是配偶的支持，鼓励参与者使用智能卡。
这些发现表明，在尼日利亚，患者持有的智能卡在接受产前服务的妇女中是可以接受的。了解增强这些智能卡使用的看法、障碍、促进因素和支持系统，可能有助于开发有潜力在资源有限的环境中实现产前、分娩和产后目标的救命移动医疗平台。
