Effect of text messages intervention on pregnancy healthcare practices: A three group non-randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of text messaging and group training on health care behaviors of pregnant women. Methods:A three group non-randomized controlled design was used in this study. The study was conducted with pregnant women who applied to four family health centers in different regions of Istanbul between November 2016 and June 2017. The Health Practices in Pregnancy Scale (HPPS) was used to evaluate the health behaviors of pregnant. In total, 150 pregnant women were included in the study, which contained text messages group, education group, control group. The text message group received 105 messages in total, 4 text messages per week for 6 months. The education group attended three weeks of group sessions held for pregnant women. The control group received routine prenatal care in the family health center. Results:The health practice of the text message and education group were significantly higher than that of the control group. In addition, the text message group health practice scores significantly increased posttest (p<0.05), whereas the education and control groups health practice scores did not significantly change (p>0.05). Conclusion:Text messages could be an effective education method for improving the health practices of pregnant women.