Jaeger, K.M.* ; Nissen, M.* ; Leutheuser, H.* ; Danzberger, N.* ; Titzmann, A.* ; Pontones, C.A.* ; Goossens, C.* ; Ziegler, P.* ; Uhrig, S.* ; Haeberle, L.* ; Bleher, H.* ; Kast, K.* ; Kornhuber, J.* ; Schoeffski, O.* ; Braun, M.* ; Fasching, P.A.* ; Beckmann, M.W.* ; Eskofier, B.M. ; Huebner, H.*
Adherence to digital pregnancy care - lessons learned from the SMART start feasibility study.
NPJ Digit. Med. 8:561 (2025)
The World Health Organization increasingly highlights the role of digital health technologies in supporting prenatal care. Despite this potential, the real-world implementation of such technologies remains limited, even in high-income countries with established analog systems. We developed a comprehensive digital pregnancy care framework, SMART Start and evaluated it in a prospective study involving 528 pregnant individuals in Germany. This study is registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00036867). Participants were equipped with a mobile app and self-examination technologies. The mobile app featured study functionality, pregnancy-related questionnaires, digital maternity records, and pregnancy-supportive content. Self-examination technologies included a standard care kit for home measurements of routine prenatal care parameters (weight, blood pressure, urinalysis), and an innovative kit with novel sensors (smartwatch, sleep analyzer). Here, we analyzed the adherence to digital pregnancy care and present the lessons learned from a clinical and technical perspective. Among all participants, 49% engaged with at least one digital package. Weekly weight tracking reached adherence rates up to 67% in the first 14 weeks. Adherence to blood pressure and urinalysis measurements was lower, peaking at 20 and 28%, respectively, but remained stable over time. Questionnaire completion rates varied in dependence on their length and complexity. 31% of users disengaged at the time of registration. While overall retention time did not significantly differ across participant subgroups (all p > 0.05), adherence analyses revealed meaningful group-level differences in engagement with specific self-examination protocols. This discrepancy underscores that continued participation does not necessarily imply consistent engagement with all components of the digital care model. The adherence to the study schedule demonstrated that pregnant individuals are generally willing and capable of engaging in home-based, multimodal self-monitoring; however, the importance of adaptive scheduling, patient-centered feedback, agile development, and interdisciplinary collaboration should be addressed by future studies. The presented SMART Start framework offers a pathway towards data-driven, personalized pregnancy care while potentially reducing the demand for conventional healthcare infrastructure.
Impact Factor
Scopus SNIP
Web of Science
Times Cited
Scopus
Cited By
Altmetric
Publikationstyp
Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Typ der Hochschulschrift
Herausgeber
Schlagwörter
Women
Keywords plus
Sprache
englisch
Veröffentlichungsjahr
2025
Prepublished im Jahr
0
HGF-Berichtsjahr
2025
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2398-6352
e-ISSN
2398-6352
ISBN
Bandtitel
Konferenztitel
Konferzenzdatum
Konferenzort
Konferenzband
Quellenangaben
Band: 8,
Heft: 1,
Seiten: ,
Artikelnummer: 561
Supplement: ,
Reihe
Verlag
Nature Publishing Group
Verlagsort
Heidelberger Platz 3, Berlin, 14197, Germany
Tag d. mündl. Prüfung
0000-00-00
Betreuer
Gutachter
Prüfer
Topic
Hochschule
Hochschulort
Fakultät
Veröffentlichungsdatum
0000-00-00
Anmeldedatum
0000-00-00
Anmelder/Inhaber
weitere Inhaber
Anmeldeland
Priorität
Begutachtungsstatus
Peer reviewed
Institut(e)
Institute of AI for Health (AIH)
POF Topic(s)
30205 - Bioengineering and Digital Health
Forschungsfeld(er)
Enabling and Novel Technologies
PSP-Element(e)
G-540008-001
Förderungen
Federal Ministry of Health
Bundesministerium fr Gesundheit
Copyright
Erfassungsdatum
2025-10-17