Development of an intervention delivered by mobile phone aimed at decreasing unintended pregnancy among young people in three lower middle income countries.

BACKGROUND: Unintended pregnancies can result in poorer health outcomes for women, children and families. Young people in low and middle income countries are at particular risk of unintended pregnancies and could benefit from innovative contraceptive interventions. There is growing evidence that interventions delivered by mobile phone can be effective in improving a range of health behaviours. This paper describes the development of a contraceptive behavioural intervention delivered by mobile phone for young people in Tajikistan, Bolivia and Palestine, where unmet need for contraception is high among this group. METHODS: Guided by Intervention Mapping, the following steps contributed to the development of the interventions: (1) needs assessment; (2) specifying behavioural change to result from the intervention; (3) selecting behaviour change methods to include in the intervention; (4) producing and refining the intervention content. RESULTS: The results of the needs assessment produced similar interventions across the countries. The interventions consist of short daily messages delivered over 4 months (delivered by text messaging in Palestine and mobile phone application instant messages in Bolivia and Tajikistan). The messages provide information about contraception, target attitudes that are barriers to contraceptive uptake and support young people in feeling that they can influence their reproductive health. The interventions each contain the same ten behaviour change methods, adapted for delivery by mobile phone. CONCLUSIONS: The development resulted in a well-specified, theory-based intervention, tailored to each country. It is feasible to develop an intervention delivered by mobile phone for young people in resource-limited settings.

A randomized controlled trial of an intervention delivered by mobile phone text message to increase the acceptability of effective contraception among young women in Palestine.

BACKGROUND: Research has shown that mobile phone contraceptive behavioral interventions can increase knowledge and use of contraception, but other studies have failed to demonstrate a beneficial effect. The objective of this trial was to estimate the effect of a contraceptive behavioral intervention delivered by mobile phone text message on young Palestinian women's attitudes towards effective contraception. METHODS: We conducted a randomized controlled trial among women aged 18-24 years living in the West Bank, who were not using an effective method of contraception. The intervention group received zero to three messages per day (113 messages for female-not married and 120 messages for female-married) for 120 days. The control group received 16 messages over 120 days about trial participation. The primary outcome was acceptability of at least one method of effective contraception at 4 months. Secondary outcomes were use of effective contraception at 4 months and any use during the study, acceptability of individual methods, service uptake, unintended pregnancy and abortion. Process outcomes included knowledge, perceived norms, personal agency and intention. All outcomes were self-reported. We analyzed the outcomes using logistic and linear regression. RESULTS: A total of 578 participants were enrolled and 464 (80%) completed follow up at 4 months. Intervention group participants were more likely to find at least one method of effective contraception acceptable (31% in the intervention group versus 17% in the control group, adjusted OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.48-3.68, p < 0.001). They had a higher mean knowledge score, were more likely to find the intrauterine device, injection, implant and patch acceptable, to agree that their friends would use an effective method and to intend to use an effective method, compared to participants in the control group. While in the direction of intervention benefit, there were no differences between the groups in the use of effective contraception at 4 months and any use during the study, pill acceptability, service uptake, unintended pregnancy and induced abortion. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention can improve attitudes, knowledge-perceived norms and intention to use effective contraception among young women in Palestine. Research is needed to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention for contraceptive behavioral outcomes in Palestine. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02905461 . Registered on 14 September 2016. World Health Organization Trial Registration Data Set: http://apps.who.int/trialsearch/Trial2.aspx?TrialID=NCT02905461.

An intervention delivered by text message to increase the acceptability of effective contraception among young women in Palestine: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Unintended pregnancy can negatively impact women's lives and is associated with poorer health outcomes for women and children. Many women, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, continue to face obstacles in avoiding unintended pregnancy. In the State of Palestine, a survey conducted in 2006 estimated that 38% of pregnancies are unintended. In 2014, unmet need for contraception was highest among young women aged 20-24 years, at 15%. Mobile phones are increasingly being used to deliver health support. Once developed, interventions delivered by mobile phone are often cheaper to deliver than face-to-face support. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association have partnered to develop and evaluate a contraceptive behavioural intervention for young women in Palestine delivered by mobile phone. The intervention was developed guided by behavioural science and consists of short, mobile phone text messages that contain information about contraception and behaviour change methods delivered over 4 months. METHODS: We will evaluate the intervention by conducting a randomised controlled trial. Five hundred and seventy women aged 18-24 years, who do not report using an effective method of contraception, will be allocated with a 1:1 ratio to receive the intervention text messages or control text messages about trial participation. The primary outcome is self-reported acceptability of at least one method of effective contraception at 4 months. Secondary outcomes include the use of effective contraception, acceptability of individual methods, discontinuation, service uptake, unintended pregnancy and abortion. Process outcomes include knowledge, perceived norms, personal agency and intervention dose received. Outcomes at 4 months will be compared between arms using logistic regression. DISCUSSION: This trial will determine the effect of the intervention on young women's attitudes towards the most effective methods of contraception. If the intervention is found to be effective, the intervention will be implemented widely across Palestine. The results could also be used to design a larger trial to establish its effect on unintended pregnancy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02905461 . Registered on 14 September 2016.