Effect of a Social Media-based Health Education Program on Postnatal Care (PNC) Knowledge Among Pregnant Women Using Smartphones in Dhulikhel Hospital

Effect of a Social Media-based Health Education Program on Postnatal Care (PNC) Knowledge Among Pregnant Women Using Smartphones in Dhulikhel Hospital: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Its an interventional study conducted to assess the effect of social media-based health education program on PNC knowledge among pregnant women attending Dhulikhel hospital, Nepal.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Unrecognized Condition
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Social media-based Health education program

Detailed Description

The study is a two-arm open-label randomized controlled trial conducted among literate pregnant visiting Dhulikhel hospital for ANC check-up. A computer-based program allocated 229 pregnant women owning smartphone with internet connectivity in a 1:1 ratio to either intervention (n=109) or usual care (n=120). The investigators assessed PNC knowledge in the participants by interviewing in-person or via phone; questionnaire was adopted from the previous study conducted to determine the knowledge of postnatal care among postpartum mothers in Asmara; that contained 20 knowledge questions with a maximum possible score of 61. The questionnaire was translated and pretested in Nepali, with the Cronbach alpa of 0.83. The intervention group received a 16 minutes video developed by using Health belief model via social media and the participants were reminded to view the video every week via telephone for a month. Control group received usual care. The primary outcome of the study was PNC knowledge score. The investigators utilized intent-to-treat analysis and measured the effect of the intervention on PNC knowledge score using linear regression analysis.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 229
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Nepal
  • Bagmati
    • Dhulikhel, Bagmati, Nepal, 11008
      • Kalpana Chaudhary

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• literate pregnant women
• owned a smartphone
• used social media (either What's App, Viber, or Facebook)
• had internet connectivity (WIFI or mobile data)

Exclusion Criteria:

• learning difficulties(dementia) or vision impairment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Social Media; social media based health education program developed using Health belief model	Other: Social media-based Health education program; The social media-based health education program consist of 16 minute PNC video in Nepali language guided by Health Belief Model. The video provided general information on postnatal care including frequency, timing, and place providing postnatal care; danger signs of mother and newborn; different services provided at each PNC visit, and the importance of PNC visit. The researcher sent PNC videos through instant messaging (IM) software applications such as Viber, What's App, and Facebook messenger to the intervention group.
No Intervention: Usual care; physical assessment of maternal and foetal wellbeing, screening, treatment, and receiving preventive measures

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
PNC knowledge assessment	The investigators adopted knowledge assessment questionnaire from the hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted to determine the knowledge of postnatal care among postpartum mothers during discharge in maternity hospitals in Asmara	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Shaye R, Schwaninger B, Hoffman D. Activator construction simplified. J Clin Orthod. 1979 Nov;13(11):773-8. No abstract available.
• Chaudhary K, Nepal J, Shrestha K, Karmacharya M, Khadka D, Shrestha A, Shakya PR, Rawal S, Shrestha A. Effect of a social media-based health education program on postnatal care (PNC) knowledge among pregnant women using smartphones in Dhulikhel hospital: A randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2023 Jan 20;18(1):e0280622. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280622. eCollection 2023.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 15, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): August 15, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 11, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 23, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): November 24, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 5, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 28, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 106/20

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