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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Acceptability of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management in a low-income and middle-income country setting: A formative qualitative study among patients and healthcare providers
BMJ Open, Volume 11, No. 11, Article e052986, Year 2021
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Description
Background Understanding contextual needs and preferences is important for a successful design and effective outcome of a mHealth strategy. Objectives This formative study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and providers on the acceptability of a mHealth (text message) strategy and elicit preferred features of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management. Design A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions guided by the technology acceptance model. Setting The study was conducted at primary healthcare facilities and at a tertiary level referral hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. Participants A total of 61 participants, patients with hypertension (n=41), their family members (n=5), healthcare workers (n=11) and key informants (n=4) were included. We purposively recruited patients with hypertension aged 30–70 who attended the selected healthcare facilities to obtain maximum variation based on their age, sex and literacy. Results The respondents perceived the mHealth strategy to be useful as it would reinforce medication compliance and behaviour change. Participants valued the trustworthiness of information from health authorities that could be delivered privately. Some implementation challenges were identified including a lack of technical manpower, resources for software development, gaps in recording a patient’s essential information and digital illiteracy. Solutions proposed were having system-level preparedness for recording the patient’s details, establishing a separate technical department in the hospital and involving a family member to assist illiterate/ elderly patients. In addition, participants preferred text messages in the local language, containing comprehensive contextual content (disease, treatment, cultural foods and misconceptions) delivered at regular intervals (2–3 times/ week) preferably in the morning or evening. Conclusions We found that a simple text messaging strategy was acceptable for hypertension management in this low/middle-income country setting. However, meticulous planning must address the needs of a diverse range of participants to ensure the mHealth strategy is acceptable to wider groups. © 2021 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC8627401/bin/bmjopen-2021-052986.reviewer_comments.pdf
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC8627401/bin/bmjopen-2021-052986.draft_revisions.pdf
Authors & Co-Authors
Schutte, Aletta E.
Australia, Sydney
George Institute for Global Health
Australia, Sydney
Unsw Sydney
Jayasuriya, Anura Rohan
Australia, Sydney
Unsw Sydney
Vaidya, Abhinav
Nepal, Kathmandu
Kathmandu Medical College
Subedi, Madhusudan
Nepal, Kathmandu
Patan Academy of Health Sciences
Statistics
Citations: 4
Authors: 4
Affiliations: 5
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1136/bmjopen-2021-052986
ISSN:
20446055
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Noncommunicable Diseases
Study Design
Exploratory Study
Study Approach
Qualitative