Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Nov 21, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Nov 21, 2022 - Jan 16, 2023
Date Accepted: Apr 7, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Acceptability of a mHealth application to monitor perinatal and postpartum mental health: a qualitative study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Up to 15% of pregnant and postpartum women commonly suffer from undiagnosed and untreated mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression that may result in serious health complications. Mobile phone health (mHealth) applications (apps) related to mental health have been utilized previously for medical assessments, but not among pregnant and postpartum women.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using mHealth to monitor women for perinatal mood complications.
Methods:
Focus group discussions with pregnant and postpartum women (n=20) and individual interviews with healthcare providers (n=8) were conducted to inform the acceptability of mHealth and to determine its utility for assessing maternal mood symptoms. Participants were recruited via purposive sampling from obstetrics clinics and the surrounding community. A semi-structured interview guide was developed by an epidemiologist with qualitative research training in consultation with an obstetrician. Qualitative data were analyzed using Atlas.ti™ v 9.
Results:
Findings from this study show that a mHealth would be acceptable to pregnant and postpartum women and is feasible for implementation. Participants reported that the mHealth would be beneficial to women and their providers for continuous monitoring of maternal mood symptoms, facilitating earlier diagnosis and intervention. Specific features such as customization and snooze features were strongly endorsed by women and providers to improve acceptability and utility. Competing demands on their time during the post-partum period , privacy, and the security of mental health data were mentioned by a women as concerns. Long-term sustainability of an app-based mood assessment and monitoring was also raised by healthcare professionals.
Conclusions:
A mHealth app to monitor mood symptoms among pregnant and postpartum women is likely feasible, opening the door to an inexpensive, population-based tool to facilitate early diagnosis of mood disorders in this vulnerable population. Clinical Trial: None
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Copyright
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