Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
The mobile phone as a tool in improving cancer care in Nigeria
Psycho-Oncology, Volume 21, No. 3, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Objective: The use of mobile phone as a tool for improving cancer care in a low resource setting. Methods: A total of 1176 oncology patients participated in the study. Majority had breast cancer. 58.4% of the patients had no formal education; 10.7 and 9.5% of patients had college or graduate education respectively. Two out of every three patients lived greater than 200 km from hospital or clinic. One half of patients rented a phone to call. Results: At 24 months, 97.6% (1132 patients) had sustained their follow-up appointments as against 19.2% (42 patients) who did not receive the phone intervention. 72.8% (14 102 calls) were to discuss illness/treatment. 14% of the calls were rated as emergency by the oncologist. 86.2% of patients found the use of mobile phone convenient/excellent/cheap. 97.6% found the use of the phone worthwhile and preferred the phone to traveling long distance to hospital/clinic. Also the patients felt that they had not been forgotten by their doctors and were been taken care of outside the hospital/clinic. Conclusions: Low resource countries faced with the burden of cancer care, poor patient follow-up and poor psychosocial support can cash in on this to overcome the persistent problem of poor communication in their healthcare delivery. The potential is enormous to enhance the use of mobile phones in novel ways: developing helpline numbers that can be called for cancer information from prevention to treatment to palliative care. The ability to reach out by mobile phone to a reliable source for medical information about cancer is something that the international community, having experience with helplines, should undertake with colleagues in Africa, who are experimenting with the mobile phone potential. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Authors & Co-Authors
Odigie, Vincent I.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Yusufu, Lazarus Mungu D.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Dawotola, David A.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Ejagwulu, F.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Abur, Peter P.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Mai, Ahmed
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Ukwenya, Yahaya A.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Garba, Ekundayo Stephen
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Rotibi, B. B.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Odigie, E. C.
Nigeria, Zaria
Ahmadu Bello University
Statistics
Citations: 81
Authors: 10
Affiliations: 1
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1002/pon.1894
ISSN:
10579249
e-ISSN:
10991611
Research Areas
Cancer
Health System And Policy
Study Design
Randomised Control Trial
Cohort Study
Study Locations
Nigeria