Application of Ecological Momentary Assessment in Maternal Health Management: A Scope review (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) enables real-time, repeated evaluation of participants' emotions, thoughts, and behavioral patterns in natural settings. It effectively mitigates the retrospective bias inherent in traditional surveys and facilitates a longitudinal understanding of health status. However, its feasibility, practicality, and methodological details for monitoring and promoting maternal health remain unclear. OBJECTIVE To conduct a scoping review of studies on the application of EMA in maternal health management, providing a reference for future research and further promotion of maternal and infant health. METHODS Using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review guidelines as the methodological framework, we searched the Web of Science, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Database, Wanfang Database, and VIP Database. The search covered publications from the inception of each database to December 2025, and the included studies were subjected to a comprehensive analysis. RESULTS The search yielded 2,989 publications, of which 14 were ultimately included. The findings were summarized across three dimensions: study design characteristics (publication year, country, and study design features, such as sample size, study population, and outcome measure type); EMA data collection methods (EMA schedule characteristics, such as monitoring cycle, duration, and data sampling methods, such as fixed-time, random-time, or event-based sampling); and EMA response-related outcomes (participation rate and response rate). CONCLUSIONS The EMA effectively mitigates the recall bias inherent in traditional assessment methods, offering novel approaches to enhance the quality of maternal health management. This enables longitudinal monitoring of maternal experiences in natural settings, facilitating the early identification of abnormal physiological, psychological, and behavioral issues during pregnancy and postpartum. This allows timely intervention to safeguard maternal and infant health. Future research should refine EMA study designs and implementation formats to fully leverage their potential in promoting maternal health and personalized interventions for maternal-infant wellness. CLINICALTRIAL Trial Registration: OSF Registries 10.17605/OSF.IO/GMFKZ