Open AccessEfficacy of e‐technologies in improving breastfeeding outcomes among perinatal women: a meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Lau Ying,
Htun Tha P.,
Tam Wai S.W.,
KlaininYobas Piyanee
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
maternal and child nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.181
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1740-8709
pISSN - 1740-8695
DOI - 10.1111/mcn.12202
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , meta analysis , psychological intervention , inclusion and exclusion criteria , inclusion (mineral) , subgroup analysis , family medicine , nursing , pediatrics , alternative medicine , psychology , social psychology , pathology
A growing line of research has highlighted that e‐technologies may play a promising role in improving breastfeeding outcomes. The objective of this review was to synthesise the best of available evidence by conducting a meta‐analysis to evaluate whether e‐technologies have had any effect in improving breastfeeding outcomes among perinatal women. The review was conducted using nine electronic databases to search for E nglish‐language research studies from 2007 to 2014. A ‘risk of bias’ table was used to assess methodological quality. Meta‐analysis was performed with the R ev M an software. The Q test and I 2 test was used to assess the heterogeneity. The test of overall effect was assessed using z ‐statistics at P < 0.05. Of 1842 studies identified through electronic searches and reference lists, 16 experimental studies were selected after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Half of the selected studies had a low risk of bias, from which a total of 5505 women in six countries in these studies were included. Meta‐analyses revealed that e‐technologies significantly improved exclusive breastfeeding initiation ( z = 6.90, P < 0.00001), exclusive breastfeeding at 4 weeks ( z = 2.12, P = 0.03) and 6 months ( z = 3.2, P = 0.001), breastfeeding attitude ( z = 3.01, P = 0.003) and breastfeeding knowledge ( z = 4.54, P = < 0.00001) in subgroup analyses. This review provides support for the development of web‐based, texting messaging, compact disc read‐only memory, electronic prompts and interactive computer agent interventions for promoting and supporting breastfeeding.