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Impact of Women's Health Mobile Applications on Preventive Health Practices among Women of Reproductive Age in Nigeria

Abstract

Preventive health practices are essential for reducing the burden of preventable diseases and improving the health and wellbeing of women of reproductive age. These practices include regular health screening, immunization, reproductive health care, healthy lifestyle behaviours, appropriate healthcare-seeking, and early detection of health problems. However, women of reproductive age in Nigeria may face barriers to adopting preventive health practices, including limited access to reliable health information, inadequate awareness, financial constraints, geographical barriers, competing responsibilities, and limited interaction with healthcare providers. The increasing availability of mobile health technologies provides an opportunity to deliver accessible and personalized health information to women through mobile applications. Women's health mobile applications may provide information, reminders, symptom tracking, health education, screening prompts, reproductive health information, and links to healthcare services. Against this background, this study investigates the impact of women's health mobile applications on preventive health practices among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Technology Acceptance Model, and Social Cognitive Theory. The Health Belief Model explains how women's perceptions of susceptibility to health problems, perceived severity, perceived benefits of preventive practices, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence their adoption of preventive health behaviours. The Technology Acceptance Model explains how perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of women's health mobile applications may influence their acceptance and continued use of digital health technologies. Social Cognitive Theory emphasizes self-efficacy, observational learning, behavioural reinforcement, social interaction, and environmental influences in the development and maintenance of health practices. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how women's health mobile applications may influence preventive health practices among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative analytical cross-sectional or quasi-experimental research design. The study population will comprise women of reproductive age residing in selected urban and rural communities across Nigeria who own or have access to internet-enabled mobile devices. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select states, local government areas, communities, and eligible women. Women's health mobile application use will be assessed using indicators such as frequency and duration of application use, types of health information accessed, use of health reminders, symptom and menstrual tracking, screening notifications, reproductive health information, immunization reminders, lifestyle guidance, appointment reminders, and links to healthcare services. Preventive health practices will be assessed using indicators such as participation in recommended health screening, immunization uptake where applicable, reproductive health service utilization, family planning practices, healthy dietary practices, physical activity, menstrual health practices, early healthcare-seeking, adherence to recommended preventive appointments, and use of appropriate health information. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires and, where appropriate, application-use records or digital usage information with participants' consent. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, patterns of mobile application use, and preventive health practices. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the impact of women's health mobile applications on preventive health practices. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, preventive health practice scores before and after introduction or structured use of the mobile application may be compared to determine changes associated with the intervention. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that women's health mobile applications have a significant positive impact on preventive health practices among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. Women who regularly use relevant mobile health applications are expected to demonstrate greater engagement in recommended preventive health practices than women with limited or no access to such applications. Mobile applications may improve preventive practices by providing timely health information, personalized reminders, screening prompts, menstrual and reproductive health tracking, and encouragement to seek professional care when necessary. Regular digital reminders may help women remember appointments, screenings, immunizations, and other preventive services, while accessible health information may improve awareness and confidence in making preventive health decisions. However, limited digital literacy, poor internet connectivity, smartphone affordability, misinformation, privacy concerns, data costs, language barriers, and unequal access to digital technologies may reduce the effectiveness of mobile health applications. The study therefore expects accessible, reliable, user-friendly, culturally appropriate, and evidence-based women's health mobile applications to contribute significantly to improved preventive health practices among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on women's health mobile applications, mobile health technology, preventive health practices, digital health, reproductive health, health promotion, health education, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state ministries of health, healthcare providers, technology developers, digital health organizations, women's health organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding the potential role of mobile health technologies in improving preventive healthcare among women. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for developing and promoting reliable women's health mobile applications, integrating digital health reminders into existing healthcare programmes, improving digital health literacy, addressing privacy and data-protection concerns, providing culturally and linguistically appropriate content, reducing digital access barriers, and strengthening links between mobile health applications and formal healthcare services across Nigeria.

Keywords: Women's health mobile applications, preventive health practices, mobile health, digital health, women of reproductive age, health promotion, reproductive health, health screening, healthcare utilization, health education, Nigeria, public health.