Abstract
Background: The DECO-MOM mobile program was developed to enhance prenatal environmental health behaviors among pregnant women, addressing the challenges of climate change and environmental pollution. This study aimed to explore the effects of the DECO-MOM app on personal and community health behaviors, quality of life, subjective health status, depression, anxiety, and e-learning satisfaction, guided by the revised protection motivation theory.
Methods/Design: This non-randomized controlled study employed a pre-post-test design with experimental and control groups. The study analyzed data from 31 participants in the experimental group and 34 in the control group after a four-week mobile application intervention conducted from September 26 to October 24, 2023, in three cities in South Korea.
Results: The experimental group demonstrated significant improvements in personal environmental health behaviors (p = .003), community environmental health behaviors (p = .001), quality of life (p = .043), and e-learning satisfaction (p = .005) compared to the control group. Significant increases were observed in subcategories such as lifestyle (p = .005), dust management (p < .001), reduction efforts (p = .001), involvement (p = .007), recycling (p = .005), reuse (p = .035), content satisfaction (p < .001), and communication satisfaction (p = .039). However, no significant increases were found in subjective health status, depression, or anxiety.
Discussion: The integration of tailored educational content delivered via mobile technology presents a viable strategy for prenatal health promotion. Future studies should explore the long-term impacts and scalability of such mobile-based interventions.
Trial registration: Trial registration Number: KCT0007725, Registered September 22, 2022. Prospectively registered.