Background

Sexual and reproductive health of young people is an international concern with the increasing interest in healthy pregnancy and childbirth. mHealth interventions involve the use of mobile technologies for health support, have wide applications in clinical nursing practice, and play an increasingly important role in disseminating sexual and reproductive health-related information in emerging adulthood. However, there is a lack of evidence on the effects of mHealth intervention programs.

Objectives

This meta-analysis systematically assessed the effects of mHealth interventions on contraceptive use and pregnancy occurrence in emerging adulthood to identify the characteristics of a successful mHealth intervention program.

Design

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Data sources

Four central electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, CINAHL complete, and the Cochrane Library) were searched for relevant articles published from inception to May 2020.

Review methods

Data extraction and quality appraisal were performed independently by two reviewers. Eleven papers on the effects of mHealth interventions on sexual and reproductive health in emerging adulthood were selected. The included studies were assessed for the risk of bias with the Risk of Bias 2 (RoB 2) tool. Overall and subgroup meta-analyses were conducted using STATA 16.0. Heterogeneity within studies was calculated using I2.

Results

We tested the effect of mHealth interventions on contraceptive use and pregnancy occurrence to identify the impact of sexual and reproductive health. mHealth interventions improved the use of contraception (OR 1.21; 95% CI: 1.02–1.43, I2 = 20.7%; p = 0.234) although the effect on pregnancy occurrence was not significant (OR 0.80, 95% CI: 0.61–1.05, I2 = 0.0%, p = 0.950). In subgroup analysis, mHealth interventions especially improved oral contraceptive use (OR 1.43, 95% CI: 1.15–1.77, I2 = 0.0%, p = 0.784). Regarding the communication type, two-way communication showed statistically significant results with the mHealth intervention in the experimental group (OR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.06–1.54, I2 = 0.0%, p = 0.872).

Conclusion

This meta-analysis found a positive effect of mHealth intervention on contraception, whereas the impact on pregnancy occurrences was limited. We also confirmed the factors underlying effective mHealth interventions from the results of our review. Our findings demonstrate that mHealth interventions may be suggested as a useful strategy to promote sexual and reproductive health in emerging adulthood.