Economic evaluations of digital health interventions on maternal, newborn and child health in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol

Introduction Digital health interventions have emerged as promising solutions to strengthen maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) systems in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although evidence on their effectiveness is growing, corresponding economic evaluations remain limited, heterogeneous and fragmented.

Understanding the value for money of digital health interventions is essential for supporting scale-up decisions and efficient resource allocation. This protocol outlines the methods for a systematic review synthesising economic evaluations of digital health interventions across the MNCH continuum in LMICs.

Methods and analysis We will systematically search PubMed, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO and Turning Research Into Practice (TRIP) Pro for peer-reviewed studies published from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2025. Backward citation searching (reference lists of included articles) and forward citation tracking will be performed to ensure comprehensive study identification, and study authors will be contacted when necessary to obtain missing or unclear data.