Effect of Receiving Text Messages on Health Care Behavior and State Anxiety of Thai Pregnant Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: The health care behavior of Thai pregnant women should enhance. Pregnant women are facing anxiety from a variety of issues. Current evidence suggests that a text message can support health care services and reduce anxiety. This study aimed to examine receiving text messages on health care behavior and state anxiety among Thai pregnant women. METHODS: This study was a single-blind randomized controlled trial. A sample of 66 primigravidas was randomly assigned using a random number table, 33 per group. All participants received a recommendation for healthy behavior during pregnancy. The intervention group added 56 text messages between 13 and 40 gestational weeks, from two government hospitals in Thailand, from March 2018 to May 2019. The data collection tool comprised of demographic characteristics questionnaire, Pregnancy Outcomes Record, The Health Care Behavior during Pregnancy Questionnaire (HCBPQ) (Thai version) which developed by the researcher, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S). Data were analyzed via SPSS version 18 using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Fisher’s exact test, and chi-square. The significance level was considered P<0.05. RESULTS: The results showed that the intervention group adopted appropriate mean health care behaviors significantly only in physical activity domain (15.40±3.19) compared to the control group (13.58±1.89), (P=0.01) and revealed a significantly lower total mean score of state-anxiety than the control group (35.23±8.50 vs. 40.79±9.28, P=0.02). Other health care behavior domains between the two groups were not statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Text messages could increase physical activity in Thai pregnant women and reduce the total score of anxiety during pregnancy. Thus, the text message strategy is appropriate to use during the antenatal period. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: TCTR20180814005