Exploration of Women's Experiences and Technology Usage Before, During, and After Pregnancy in Singapore

November 8, 2021 updated by: Prof. Dean Ho, National University of Singapore
This study seek to understand the motivations and contextual influences that can induce and sustain behaviour change to inform future interventions for women before, during and after pregnancy, through a qualitative interview-based assessment of 60 participants. As digital health intervention in pregnant women has been shown to be cost-effective and scalable, the current study also aims to understand women's usage of technology throughout the process of trying to conceive, being pregnant and being a new mother within the local Singapore context.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Detailed Description

Maternal overweight and obesity is a growing public health concern in Singapore. A recent Singaporean prospective cohort study examined 724 pregnant women and reported that 26.2% of the women had a total gestational weight gain (GWG) which exceed the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 2009 guidelines. When examined based on body mass index (BMI), overweight and obese women had significantly increased risk of gaining gestational weight above IOM recommendations, compared to normal weight women. Higher GWG have previously been linked to adverse maternal and infant outcomes including higher rates of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and primary caesarean delivery, large for age (LGA) infant, macrosomia and increased risk of childhood overweight/obesity. Given the impact of maternal GWG on pregnancy and infant outcomes, there is a need for a targeted behavioural intervention. As effective health behaviour change requires early initiation and maintenance of change, women before, during and after pregnancy should be targeted. Furthermore, high pre-pregnancy BMI have been shown to be linked with increased risk of GDM and type 2 diabetes post-delivery, and higher infant birthweight, child obesity and atypical child neurodevelopment. Accordingly, this highlights the need for early behavioural intervention beginning with women trying to get pregnant. Current studies have focused predominantly on individual factors contributing to maternal obesity in relation to infant outcomes, both immediately postpartum and prospectively into early childhood. Based on Bronfenbrenner's ecological model, key contextual factors involving the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro- and chronosystem are important factors contributing to the efficacy of digital means on health behavioural change among pregnant women. From this theoretical orientation, understanding individual factors involving motivation and contextual influences is central to facilitating health behaviour change. Specifically, elucidating the proximal (e.g. peers, family) and distal factors (e.g. community, health services) embedded within specific cultural contexts ensure sustainability of behaviour change among pregnant women.

As Singapore is a culturally diverse society, there is a need to understand the impact of cultural factors on maternal behaviours and decision making. Accordingly, the current study will consist of a qualitative assessment of 60 participants who will undergo semi-structured interviews with the aim to understand motivations and contextual influences that induce and sustain behaviour change, so as to inform future interventions for women before, during and after pregnancy. As digital health intervention in pregnant women has been shown to be cost-effective and scalable, the current study also aims to understand women's usage of technology throughout the process of trying to conceive, being pregnant and being a new mother within the local Singapore context.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

60

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Singapore
      • Singapore, Singapore, 119074
        • Not yet recruiting
        • National University Hospital
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Shiao-Yng Chan, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Yung Seng Lee, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Yijuan, Yvonne Lim, MMed
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Anjian, Andrew Sng, MMed
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Nicholas Beng Hui Ng, MMed
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Lin Lin Su, MMed
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Delicia Shu Qin Ooi, PhD
      • Singapore, Singapore, 117456
        • Recruiting
        • The N.1 Institute for Health (N.1), NUS, Singapore
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • V Vien Lee, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Smrithi Vijayakumar, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Qiao Ying Leong, BSc
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Johan Eriksson, Prof
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Yoann Sapanel, MBA
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Ni Yin Lau, BSocSci (Hons)
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Wei Ying Ng, BSocSci (Hons)

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

21 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Women who are actively trying to conceive (pre-pregnancy) or currently in first to third trimester of pregnancy (during pregnancy) or have a child aged 0-2 years (post-pregnancy).

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • English fluency;
  • Aged 21 years and above;
  • Actively trying to conceive (pre-pregnancy) or currently in first to third trimester of pregnancy (during pregnancy) or have a child aged 0-2 years (post-pregnancy).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Evidence/diagnosis of cognitive impairment (e.g. history of dementia, intellectual disability, traumatic brain injury);
  • Current diagnosis of psychiatric disorder (e.g. severe anxiety, depression, schizophrenia);
  • Significant hearing impairment;
  • Inability to complete the study at the judgement of the clinician investigators;
  • Women requiring or who had any form of assisted conception.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Pre-pregnancy
During pregnancy
Post-pregnancy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Experiences and technology usage among women
Time Frame: 1 year
We will conduct semi-structured interviews with women who are either trying to conceive, pregnant or have a child aged 0 to 2 years. The interviews seek to find out about the participants' pregnancy/maternal-related experiences including the challenges faced, lifestyle changes made, support systems and experience with the health system. Participants will also be asked about their previous and current experiences with technology usage, such as the type of technology used and the purposes of technology usage. Additionally, there will also be two questionnaires, conducted pre- and post-interview, on the participants' demographics and their opinions on technical aspects of digital platforms.
1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National University of Singapore

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Dean Ho, Prof, National University of Singapore

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 8, 2021

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

May 8, 2022

Study Completion (Anticipated)

November 8, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 15, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 28, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

October 29, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 10, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 8, 2021

Last Verified

November 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2021/00034

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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