The Influence of Design and Implementation Characteristics on the Use of Maternal Mobile Health Interventions in Kenya: Systematic Literature Review

BACKGROUND: The growth of mobile technology in developing countries, coupled with pressing maternal health care challenges, has led to a widespread implementation of maternal mobile health (mHealth) innovations. However, reviews generating insights on how the characteristics of the interventions influence use are scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to review maternal mHealth interventions in Kenya to explore the influence of intervention design and implementation characteristics on use by maternal health clients. We also provide a starting inventory for maternal mHealth interventions in the country. METHODS: Using a systematic approach, we retrieved a total of 1100 citations from both peer-reviewed and gray sources. Articles were screened on the basis of an inclusion and exclusion criterion, and the results synthesized by categorizing and characterizing the interventions presented in the articles. The first phase of the literature search was conducted between January and April 2019, and the second phase was conducted between April and June 2021. RESULTS: A total of 16 articles were retrieved, comprising 13 maternal mHealth interventions. The study highlighted various mHealth design and implementation characteristics that may influence the use of these interventions. CONCLUSIONS: In addition to elaborating on insights that would be useful in the design and implementation of future interventions, this study contributes to a local inventory of maternal mHealth interventions that may be useful to researchers and implementers in mHealth. This study highlights the need for explanatory studies to elucidate maternal mHealth use, while complementing existing evidence on mHealth effectiveness.