The Evaluation of Pulse: A Mobile Health App and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Condition: Unprotected Sex; Contraceptive Usage
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study used a randomized controlled design to evaluate the efficacy of a new mobile app,
      Pulse, in reducing the incidence of unprotected sex among young women. Pulse is a web-based
      mobile health application that can be accessed through mobile smartphones and computers.
      Pulse was designed to increase highly effective birth control use and reproductive and sexual
      health care utilization, and ultimately decrease teen pregnancy. The sample was comprised of
      2,317 women aged 18-20 who, at enrollment, were not pregnant or trying to become pregnant,
      had daily access to a smartphone, were currently living in the United States or a U.S.
      territory, and spoke English. Most of the sample (86%) identified as Black and/or Latinx. The
      evaluation team enrolled participants over a two and a half year enrollment period using
      social media, including Facebook and Instagram.

      Users accessed Pulse autonomously, on their own terms, and in their own time and place. The
      app consists of 6 sections and includes 3 hours of unique content. It does not require the
      user to follow a specific sequence of content viewed; however, all users received a monetary
      incentive after registering with the app. Young women randomized to the intervention
      condition were given access to Pulse indefinitely and received daily text messages related to
      sexual health for 6 weeks. Control participants were directed to a free general
      health/fitness web-based mobile application, also called Pulse, and received text messages
      related to general health for 6 weeks. The control and treatment apps look and feel similar
      aesthetically but contain different content. Participants in both the intervention and
      comparison groups received a baseline survey, a 6-week follow-up survey, and a 6-month
      follow-up survey (the 6-month follow-up survey was only administered to participants
      recruited between November 2018 and March 2019). Participants also received incentives for
      completing the baseline and post-intervention surveys. Both surveys were conducted online via
      an electronic survey platform. This study was conducted as a Rigorous Evaluation of New or
      Innovative Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy funded by the U.S. Department of Health and
      Human Services' Office of Adolescent Health.
    


Intervention name(s): Pulse
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The intervention provides participants access to Pulse, a web-based mobile health app designed for Black and Latinx women ages 18-20. Participants can access the app autonomously and on their own schedule. The app for the experimental arm, the Pulse treatment app, provides information on birth control, healthy relationships, sexual health and physiology, pregnancy, and utilization of clinical services. The app for the comparator arm, the Pulse control app, provides information on general health topics, such as the importance of sleep, healthy eating, and friendships. Participants receive MMS messages that reinforce app content and remind them to visit the app.
Other intervention name(s): GirlPower
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Reproductive and Sexual Health Care Utilization