Table 1.
Name of intervention |
Authors (Year) | Number of articles |
Study design | Country | Health domain | Target group | Type of mCDSSa |
m4Changeb |
McNabb et al (2015) [25] | 1 |
Quantitative pre-post study | Nigeria | Maternal health | Community health (extension) workers |
Decision algorithms for antenatal care incorporating clients’ data. Includes audio clips for counseling. |
DESIRE (Decision Support and Integrated Record-Keeping) |
Vedanthan et al (2015) [26] | 1 |
Qualitative usability and feasibility study |
Kenya | Hypertension | Nurses and clinical officers |
Electronic records system coupled with algorithm-based decision support with alerts and reminders. |
CommCare |
Svoronos et al (2010) [27] | 1 |
Qualitative and descriptive | Tanzania | Maternal health | Community health workers | Decision support protocols with reminders and checklists. Incorporates clients’ data for pregnancy monitoring and supervisory oversight. |
mPneumonia |
Ginsburg et al (2015) [28] | 1 |
Mixed methods usability and feasibility testing |
Ghana | Childhood illnesses |
Lesser trained health care professionals |
Algorithms for managing childhood illnesses integrated with “intelligent” breath counter and pulse oximeter. |
Bacis (Basic Antenatal Care Information System) |
Horner et al (2013) [29] | 1 |
Before and after cohort study | South Africa | Maternal health | Nurses | Electronic patient information system with protocols to support providers’ action. Includes reminders, alerts, and checklists. |
TB Tech |
Catalani et al (2014) [30] |
1 |
Mixed methods human-centered design | Kenya | Tuberculosis and HIV | Clinicians | Electronic patient records used to generate individualized reminders and decision support for provider action, education, and behavior change. |
txt2MEDLINE |
Armstrong et al (2012) [31] |
1 |
Pre-post utility evaluation | Botswana | Different domains |
Clinicians of varying cadres | Two-way short messaging service (SMS) of clinical guidelines with MEDLINE query function. |
ALMANACH (New Algorithm for Managing Childhood Illness Using Mobile Technology) |
Shao et al (2015a, 2015b) [32,33] | 2 |
Controlled noninferiority trial and qualitative study |
Tanzania | Childhood illnesses |
Clinicians | Diagnostic and treatment algorithm supported by point-of-care tests and simple clinical assessments. |
eIMCI (electronic Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) |
Mitchell et al (2012, 2013); DeRenzi et al (2008) [34-36] |
3 |
Mixed methods before-after cluster trial | Tanzania | Childhood illnesses |
Health care professionals |
Electronic protocols for the Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses (IMCI) for stepwise examination, diagnosis, and management. |
Text Messaging of Malaria Guidelines |
Jones et al (2012); Zurovac et al (2011, 2012) [37-39] |
3 |
Cluster randomized controlled trial |
Kenya | Malaria | Health workers |
One-way text messaging on malaria management, supported by unique motivational quotes. |
QUALMAT (Quality of Maternal and Prenatal Care) |
Blank et al (2013); Dalaba et al (2014, 2015); Mensah et al (2015); Saronga et al (2015); Zakane et al (2014); Duysburgh et al (2016) [40-46] |
7 |
Mixed methods quasi- experimental study |
Tanzania; Ghana; Burkina Faso | Maternal and prenatal health | Health professionals (nonphysicians) |
Electronic decision support algorithm with data integration. Includes training materials and an electronic partograph. |
amCDSS: mobile clinical decision support system.
bAlthough the m4Change study also used the CommCare app, we decided to treat them as independent studies because the interventions were only similar on a technical level and not part of an integrated multicountry study.