Objective: Adult women of reproductive age are highly engaged with social media, suggesting its utility for conveying health information to this population, at scale. This scoping review aimed to describe health promotion interventions conducted via social media and assess their effectiveness to improve health outcomes, engagement and acceptability in adult women of reproductive age.
Design: Six databases were searched on 13 May 2022. Two reviewers independently screened studies. Data were extracted and risk of bias assessed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Tools.
Setting: Eligible studies conducted an intervention primarily via social media, with or without a comparison intervention, and reported health-related outcomes/behaviours pre- and post-intervention. Results were presented in narrative form.
Participants: Adult women (mean age 18-45 years).
Results: Nine eligible studies were identified: six randomised control trials, two quasi-experimental studies and one cross-sectional study. Interventions focused on prenatal, antenatal or postpartum health or physical activity. Seven studies utilised Facebook for intervention delivery, one conducted a digital campaign across four platforms and one used WeChat. Studies reported significant improvements in a range of outcomes, including increased parenting competence, longer duration of breast-feeding and higher rates of physical activity. Social media interventions had greater engagement than control interventions.
Conclusions: We identified nine diverse health promotion interventions conducted via social media, which appear acceptable and effective for improving various health outcomes in adult women of reproductive age. While this supports the utility of social media to convey health information, further research is required to prove effectiveness and superiority over other intervention strategies.
Keywords: Health promotion; Mental health; Physical health; Social media; Women’s health.