Abstract
BackgroundThere is a paucity of subnational data on patterns of mobile phone ownership and use in Tanzania to inform the development of digital health interventions.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to assess patterns of mobile phone ownership and use in pregnant women to inform the feasibility and design of digital health interventions for promoting timely uptake of childhood vaccines in southern Tanzania.MethodsBetween August and November 2017, pregnant women in their third trimester were enrolled at health facilities and from surrounding communities, and asked about their patterns of mobile phone ownership and use in an interviewer administered survey.ResultsOf 406 women, only 3 had never used a phone. Most women (>98%) could make and receive phone calls. Compared to urban women, rural women reported higher mobile phone use rates but were less likely to be sole owners of phones, and less likely to send or receive SMS, transact money, browse the internet, or use social media via mobile phones.ConclusionsThe findings suggest high feasibility for digital health interventions delivered via mobile phones to pregnant women in southern Tanzania. The feasibility of smartphone-based interventions or strategies relying on the use of social media or the internet is limited.
Highlights
In recent years, many efforts have leveraged increasing mobile-cellular subscription rates in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) as a mechanism to promote childhood vaccinations [1,2]
The findings suggest high feasibility for digital health interventions delivered via mobile phones to pregnant women in southern Tanzania
The government of Tanzania has developed a detailed investment road map for the use of digital health interventions to strengthen the performance of the national health system [3]
Summary
Many efforts have leveraged increasing mobile-cellular subscription rates in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) as a mechanism to promote childhood vaccinations [1,2]. The feasibility, successful implementation, and scale-up of these digital health strategies depends on the availability of mobile-cellular infrastructure and patterns of mobile phone ownership and use in target populations. Several large text messaging programs have been successfully implemented to deliver health information to target populations via mobile phones. Examples of such text messaging programs include the Wazazi Nipendeni multimedia campaign and the mobile for reproductive health educational messages for reproductive health [6,7] Yet, there is little subnational data on mobile phone ownership and use that are publicly available to inform the design and feasibility of digital health interventions. There is a paucity of subnational data on patterns of mobile phone ownership and use in Tanzania to inform the development of digital health interventions
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