Development and evaluation of mHealth on polycystic ovarian syndrome for young women

Abstract

The prospective benefit of mHealth can be expected to revolutionize health service profileworldwide. mHealth consist of short message service (SMS), web based interventions, smart phoneapplications and telehealth. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is now familiar among women in theirreproductive age as a disorder affecting them irrespective of their age. Young women in India have highprevalence of PCOS ranging from 9.13 to 36 per cent. PCOS inclines young women at a greater risk ofdeveloping insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome as well as cardiovascular disease. Hundred youngwomen aged 19-25 years were selected from ten hostels located in Coimbatore city, Tamil Nadu.Formulation of the interview schedule was done as a tool to assess the information of the locale, theirhealth status, lifestyle practice and physical activity level. The tools used for dietary assessment included24 hour dietary recall carried out for three consecutive days and a questionnaire to know their frequencyof consuming different foods. Anthropometric measurement was carried out to compute BMI and waisthip ratio. A pre-intervention questionnaire to assess the knowledge of young women on PCOS was alsoadministered. mHealth message was developed on PCOS containing 110-150 characters includingpunctuation, bold and italic letters and mHealth messages were sent for a period of 12 days via WhatsApp.After 12 days, with the help of post-intervention questionnaire a change in knowledge on PCOS wasappraised. mHealth can be used as an effective communication tool to provide information and bringchanges in knowledge, attitude and behavior for other areas which is likely to change the current situationof delivering health service around the world.