Pregnant women’s attitudes to and experiences with a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia: a qualitative descriptive study

OBJECTIVES: To explore attitudes to and experiences using a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia among pregnant women. DESIGN: A qualitative, descriptive study. SETTING: An obstetrical care unit at a university hospital in Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty women who had participated in the Salurate trial, a clinical trial testing the efficacy of a smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia, were purposefully chosen for the study, using maximum variation sampling. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were collected by semistructured, individual, face-to-face interviews conducted from 4 October 2018 to 8 November 2018. Data were transcribed verbatim and analysed by means of thematic analysis. RESULTS: Qualitative thematic analysis resulted in the identification of three main themes: Raising awareness, self-testing has the potential to be an integrated part of pregnancy and trusting in technology. Two subthemes were identified under each main theme. CONCLUSIONS: The smartphone-based self-test for prediction of pre-eclampsia has potential to be integrated into antenatal care, and women found it feasible to use. However, testing affected the participating women psychologically, leading to feelings of worry as well as safety. Therefore, if self-testing is implemented, it is important to take actions to handle adverse psychological side effects, including increasing knowledge on pre-eclampsia and having healthcare professionals ongoingly address the psychological state of women throughout pregnancy. In addition, it is essential to emphasise the importance of subjective bodily sensations during pregnancy, including fetal movements. Further studies on the experience of being labelled low risk versus high risk for pre-eclampsia are warranted since this was not investigated in this trial.