Advancing Female University Students' Health Through Mobile Technology in Ethiopia (EMPOWER)

August 8, 2026 updated by: Yeshalem Mulugeta Demilew, Bahir Dar University

Advancing Female University Students Sexual and Reproductive Health, Nutrition, and Psychosocial Well-being Through Mobile Technology Interventions in Ethiopia

Background: Female university students in Ethiopia experience a high burden of sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, and psychosocial problems, exacerbated by limited access to essential health services and support. Mobile technology provides an opportunity to deliver accessible, evidence-based health interventions.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile technology-based intervention in improving SRH, nutrition, and psychosocial well-being among female university students in Ethiopia.

Methods: A concurrent mixed-methods study will be conducted among first-year female university students. Baseline quantitative and qualitative assessments will identify needs, barriers, and facilitators. A randomized controlled trial will evaluate a comprehensive mobile health education intervention delivered monthly. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis.

Expected Outcomes: Improved sexual and reproductive health, dietary practices, and psychosocial well-being among female university students.

Duration and Budget: The project will be implemented over the proposed study period with a total budget of 1,208,564 Ethiopian birr.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a mobile technology based interventional study to improve sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, and psychosocial wellbeing of female university students.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

880

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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

  • Name: Elenie A Mengesha, PhD
  • Phone Number: +251918772775

Study Locations

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Regular undergraduate female university student will be included in the study.
  • First year female students will be included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who have no mobile phone will be excluded from the study.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: M-health intervention
The intervention will address key components of adolescent health, including appropriate and responsible digital technology use, the fundamentals of sexual and reproductive health (SRH), adolescent nutrition, psychosocial well-being, health-related risk factors, and preventive measures. Intervention content will be developed in a concise and age-appropriate format and delivered monthly via mobile technology over a period of three consecutive years. Following each message, feedback will be collected from participating students to assess message receipt, exposure, and whether the content has been read. This process will also facilitate monitoring of students' engagement with the intervention throughout the study period.
Behavioral: Behavioural change intervention will be provided through mobile application
Behavioural change intervention will be provided through mobile application to improve sexual and reproductive health, nutrition, psychosocial, and appropriate digital use.The intervention packages or contents of the intervention will be developed based on the survey finding. Content of the intervention will include appropriate digital use, the basics of SRH, adolescent nutrition, psychosocial wellbeing, risk factors, and prevention measures. Nutrition messages will include nutrient requirements, the benefits of a healthy diet, the dietary habits of adolescents, the adverse consequences of junk food consumption, short- and long-term consequences of taking unhealthy diet. Possible solutions to improve dietary intake. A simple message about detailed description of the contents of the intervention will be delivered monthly through mobile technology for three consecutive years. Feedback will be collected from students after delivery of message to make sure whether students read or not.
Other Names:
  • Group one
Active Comparator: Routine education
Control group will receive education provided by universities clinics and gender office.
Behavioral: Routine care
Students in the control group will receive message provided through gender office.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Sexual and reproductive health
Time Frame: Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May2028 (8 weeks) .
Sexual and reproductive health will be the primary outcomes and will be assessed using questionnaires.
Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May2028 (8 weeks) .
Psychosocial well-being
Time Frame: Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May2028(8 weeks) .
Psychosocial well-being will be the primary outcomes of this studyand will be assessed using questionnaires.
Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May2028(8 weeks) .
Dietary intake
Time Frame: Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May 2028 (8 weeks).
Dietary intake will be the primary outcome and will be measured using food frequency questionnaire. Students who have a higher score for healthy foods will be considered as having appropriate dietary practice, otherwise not.
Baseline assessment will be done from August 1-September 30, 2026 (8 weeks) and endline assessment will be done from April to May 2028 (8 weeks).

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Bahir Dar University

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 (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

June 30, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 28, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 30, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 11, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 8, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • School of Public health, BDU
  • BDU/20/2025 (Other Identifier: Bahir Dar University)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

For security purpose

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.

Subscribe