The Effect of Educational Intervention with Mobile Health Technology on COVID-19 Induced Stress among Pregnant Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background & aim: The spread of COVID-19 has increased the stress level in pregnant women. The present study was performed to determine the effect of a mobile-based health educational intervention on the stress induced by the COVID-19 pandemic among pregnant women.Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was carried out on 80 pregnant women (40 sampleintervention and 40 control) referred to Gonabad Comprehensive Urban Health Service Centers from October to December 2021 who were selected using stratified random sampling. Data collection tools included demographic questionnaire (12 questions) and the valid and reliable questionnaire of the Corona Stress Scale (CSS-18). The questionnaires were filled out through self-administered method svia the Porsline platform in three stages: before, immediately after, and one month after the intervention. The intervention group received five 30-minute education sessions as twice a week based on the latest Ministry of Health maternity and neonatal health guidelines. The control group received educational content in PDF format. Data were analyzed by Wilcoxon, Benferroni, Mann-Whitney, and independent t-tests using SPSS (version 16).Results:  The mean COVID-19 stress score before the intervention was not statistically significant in the two groups (P= 0.92). After the intervention, the mean stress score of COVID-19 in the intervention group was estimated 48.12 ±12.24, which was significantly lower than the control group (57.02 ± 15.99) (P˂0.001).Conclusion: Mobile-based education intervention reduces COVID-19 stress in pregnant women. It is suggested that this approach be implemented for the provision of healthcare to pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic