Comparing the Effectiveness of a Web-Based Application With a Digital Live Seminar to Improve Safe Communication for Pregnant Women: 3-Group Partially Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Medical internet interventions such as asynchronous apps and synchronous digital live seminars can be effective behavior change interventions. The research question of this study was whether digital interventions based on the Health Action Process Approach can improve pregnant women’s safe communication and patient safety in obstetric care. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare a digital live seminar with a web-based application intervention and a passive control group and to identify which social cognitive variables determine safe communication behavior and patient safety. METHODS: In total, 657 pregnant women were recruited, and hereof, 367 expectant mothers from 2 German university hospitals participated in the pre-post study (live seminar: n=142; web-based app: n=81; passive control group: n=144). All interventions targeted intention, planning, self-efficacy, and communication of personal preferences. The 2.5-hour midwife-assisted live seminar included exercises on empathy and clear communication. The fully automated web-based application consisted of 9 consecutive training lessons with the same content as that of the live seminar. RESULTS: Controlled for sociodemographic characteristics, repeated measures analyses of covariance revealed that pregnant women significantly improved their self-reported communication behavior in all groups. The improvement was more pronounced after the digital live seminar than after the web-based application (P<.001; η(p)(2)=0.043). Perceived patient safety improved more for pregnant women participating in the live seminar than for those participating in the web-based application group (P=.03 η(p)(2)=0.015). A regression analysis revealed that social cognitive variables predicted safe communication behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the web-based application intervention appeared to be less effective than the digital live training in terms of communication behavior. Application interventions addressing communication behaviors might require more face-to-face elements. Improving intention, coping planning, and coping self-efficacy appeared to be key drivers in developing safe communication behavior in pregnant women. Future research should include social learning aspects and focus on the practical application of medical internet interventions when aiming to improve pregnant women’s communication and patient safety in obstetrics. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03855735; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03855735