Addition of mHealth (mobile health) for family planning support in Kenya: disparities in access to mobile phones and associations with contraceptive knowledge and use

Lee, Seohyun; Begley, Charles E.; Morgan, Robert O.; Chan, Wenyaw; Kim, Sun‐Young

doi:10.1093/inthealth/ihy092

Cited by 16 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…However, the type of mobile phone that the patients own may not be smartphones to support an upload of needed software. Such challenges were also reported elsewhere in Kenya 108 – 110 and Tanzania 111 where there exist similar socioeconomic disparities in mobile phone ownership in support of the implementation of mHealth.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

et al. 2021

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The World Health Organization (WHO) recently put forth a Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 with several countries having already achieved key milestones. We aimed to understand whether and how digital health technologies (DHTs) are absorbed in Africa, tracking Ethiopia as a key node. We conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed-MEDLINE, Embase, ScienceDirect, African Journals Online, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform databases from inception to 02 February 2021 for studies of any design that investigated the potential of DHTs in clinical or public health practices in Ethiopia. This review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021240645) and it was designed to inform our ongoing DHT-enabled randomized controlled trial (RCT) (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04216420). We found 27,493 potentially relevant citations, among which 52 studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 596,128 patients, healthy individuals, and healthcare professionals. The studies involved six DHTs: mHealth (29 studies, 574,649 participants); electronic health records (13 studies, 4534 participants); telemedicine (4 studies, 465 participants); cloud-based application (2 studies, 2382 participants); information communication technology (3 studies, 681 participants), and artificial intelligence (1 study, 13,417 participants). The studies targeted six health conditions: maternal and child health (15), infectious diseases (14), non-communicable diseases (3), dermatitis (1), surgery (4), and general health conditions (15). The outcomes of interest were feasibility, usability, willingness or readiness, effectiveness, quality improvement, and knowledge or attitude toward DHTs. Five studies involved RCTs. The analysis showed that although DHTs are a relatively recent phenomenon in Ethiopia, their potential harnessing clinical and public health practices are highly visible. Their adoption and implementation in full capacity require more training, access to better devices such as smartphones, and infrastructure. DHTs hold much promise tackling major clinical and public health backlogs and strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in Ethiopia. More RCTs are needed on emerging DHTs including artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, cybersecurity, telemedicine, and wearable devices to provide robust evidence of their potential use in such settings and to materialize the WHO’s Global Strategy on Digital Health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

et al. 2021

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“…The design may also consider incorporation of motivational messaging and allow for interactive communication ( 59 ). Ownership of mobile phones is increasing, at a prevalence of 71% in Uganda ( 60 – 62 ). The adoption of mhealth strategies for FP, however, raises some ethical concerns, such as confidentiality or data security.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Information Exposure About Family Planning Among Women of Reproductive Age in Informal Settlements of Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda

Birabwa¹,

Chemonges²,

Tetui³

et al. 2021

Front. Glob. Womens Health

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Introduction: A high unmet need for family planning (FP) prevails in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge, awareness creation, and ensuring accessibility are frequently used to increase FP uptake. However, evidence on knowledge or information dissemination about FP among marginalized populations in urban settings in Africa is limited. This study explored the knowledge of FP methods, media exposure, and contact with FP providers among women from an informal settlement in Uganda.Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, we interviewed 626 women aged 15–49 years living in informal settlements of Kira municipality, selected through multistage sampling. Using a standard questionnaire, data was collected on socioeconomic characteristics, knowledge of FP methods, and access to media FP messages among others. Binomial log-linear regression was used to assess disparities in exposure to media FP messages or provider information. Data were analyzed using STATA version 14, at a 5% level of statistical significance.Results: Nearly all women in the survey were aware of FP methods (99.7%). On average, each woman was aware of 10 FP methods. The most commonly known methods were male condoms (98.2%), injectables (97.4%), and the oral contraceptive pill (95.2%). Use of any contraceptive was found among 42.7% of respondents. Exposure to media was found in 70.6% of the respondents, mostly through television (58.5%) and radio (58.3%). Discussing FP with a provider was significantly associated with media exposure (aPR 1.4, 95% CI: 1.24–1.56). Less than 50% of women who were not using FP had contact with an FP provider. Women in union (aPR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.01–2.68) and those with access to media messages (aPR 2.5, 95% CI: 1.37–4.54) were more likely to have contact with a provider to discuss FP.Conclusion: There is high general awareness about FP methods and media exposure, but method use was low. Further exploration of women's understanding of FP methods and the fit between existing education programs and FP knowledge needs in this urban setting should be conducted. The potential for mobile health solutions in this urban population should be explored. Future studies should focus on the knowledge and understanding of FP among unmarried and nulliparous women and those with no access to media information.

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“…It is also important to note that, although there is increasing evidence that mobile phones have the potential to improve family planning literacy through family planning text messages (43,44), a greater proportion of this study's participants reported not being aware of such an opportunity. The ndings demonstrate further that the few women who were aware of the opportunity and have subscribed to family planning text message services tend to ignore the messages sent to them through their mobile phones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Factors Affecting Family Planning Literacy: Perspectives of Women of Childbearing Age in Rural Lake Zone, Tanzania

Kassim¹,

Ndumbaro²

2020

Preprint

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Background Low uptake of various recommended modern family planning methods is associated with inadequate family planning literacy among potential beneficiaries of the methods. As such, understanding the factors affecting family planning literacy is key to addressing this problem. This study, therefore, explored factors affecting family planning literacy of women of childbearing age in the rural Lake Zone of Tanzania.Methods The study utilized an exploratory descriptive qualitative research approach using focus group discussions to collect data. A total of eight focus group discussion sessions were held to solicit information from women of childbearing age involved in the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from the respondents.Results Inadequate family planning literacy has been found among women of childbearing age in the studied communities. Socio-demographic factors such as education level, religious affiliation, and family income have been found to negatively affect the family planning literacy of the women in this study. Other factors such as fertility preference, negative perceptions about family planning, preference of unproven traditional family planning methods, limited access to reliable sources of information, household responsibilities, and poor male partner support were also found to affect women’s family planning literacy. Conclusion Inadequate family planning literacy among women of childbearing age reduces the women’s chances of obtaining relevant family planning information as well as limiting their abilities to process and understand the information so as to be able to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. Therefore, addressing factors affecting family planning literacy of the women is imperative in increasing their overall uptake of various recommended modern family planning methods.

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Addition of mHealth (mobile health) for family planning support in Kenya: disparities in access to mobile phones and associations with contraceptive knowledge and use

Cited by 16 publications

References 21 publications

The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

Knowledge and Information Exposure About Family Planning Among Women of Reproductive Age in Informal Settlements of Kira Municipality, Wakiso District, Uganda

Factors Affecting Family Planning Literacy: Perspectives of Women of Childbearing Age in Rural Lake Zone, Tanzania

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