Determinants of Mobile Telephone Usage for Healthcare Service Utilization

Abstract

Mobile telephone technology has penetrated all areas of life, and developing nations are enjoying the benefits it brings to various sectors, particularly healthcare. Existing literature have shown various determinants of mobile telephone usage for different purposes. However, very little attention has been given to the factors that determine the use of mobile phone for healthcare service utilization. This is crucial to healthcare service delivery planning processes. This paper, therefore, examines the factors influencing mobile phone use for healthcare services in Lagos. Using a structured questionnaire, information on demographic profile of patients, mobile telephone ownership and usage, and the determinants of use of a mobile phone for medical purposes was obtained from seven-hundred and eleven out-patients in Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). The independent and joint contribution of determining factors was analyzed using logistic regression model. The result shows that patient’s travel-time to the hospital is the major determinant of mobile phone usage for medical service utilization (Odd Ratio: 3.257). This implies that the long hours spent on travelling by patients to the healthcare centre due to heavy traffic congestion in Lagos metropolis may have encouraged the use of mobile telephone for healthcare utilization purposes. The paper suggests that healthcare policymakers should make a concerted effort to effectively manage the chaotic traffic congestion and encourage the use of mobile phones as one of the methods for providing medical services in Lagos metropolis.