mHealth in sub-Saharan Africa
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TLDR
Overall, the current evidence is not strong enough to warrant large-scale implementation of existing mHealth interventions in SSA, but rapid progress of both infrastructure and mHealth-related research in the region could justify scale-up of the most promising programs in the near future.Abstract:
Mobile phone penetration rates have reached 63% in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and are projected to pass 70% by 2013. In SSA, millions of people who never used traditional landlines now use mobile phones on a regular basis. Mobile health, or mHealth, is the utilization of short messaging service (SMS), wireless data transmission, voice calling, and smartphone applications to transmit health-related information or direct care. This systematic review analyzes and summarizes key articles from the current body of peer-reviewed literature on PubMed on the topic of mHealth in SSA. Studies included in the review demonstrate that mHealth can improve and reduce the cost of patient monitoring, medication adherence, and healthcare worker communication, especially in rural areas. mHealth has also shown initial promise in emergency and disaster response, helping standardize, store, analyze, and share patient information. Challenges for mHealth implementation in SSA include operating costs, knowledge, infrastructure, and policy amongmany others. Further studies of the effectiveness of mHealth interventions are being hindered by similar factors aswell as a lack of standardization in study design. Overall, the current evidence is not strong enough to warrant large-scale implementation of existing mHealth interventions in SSA, but rapid progress of both infrastructure and mHealth-related research in the region could justify scale-up of the most promising programs in the near future.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Evaluating Digital Health Interventions: Key Questions and Approaches.
Elizabeth Murray,Eric B. Hekler,Gerhard Andersson,Linda M. Collins,Aiden R. Doherty,Chris Hollis,Daniel E. Rivera,Robert West,Jeremy C Wyatt +8 more
TL;DR: Broadening the portfolio of research questions and evaluation methods will help with developing the necessary knowledge base to inform decisions on policy, practice, and research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bibliometric analysis of worldwide scientific literature in mobile - health: 2006–2016
Waleed M. Sweileh,Samah W. Al-Jabi,Adham S. Abu-Taha,Sa’ed H. Zyoud,Fathi Anayah,Ansam F. Sawalha +5 more
TL;DR: The size of literature in m-Health showed a noticeable increase in the past decade, and given the large volume of citations received in this field, it is expected that applications of m- health will be seen into various health aspects and health services.
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Health workers’ perceptions and experiences of using mHealth technologies to deliver primary healthcare services: a qualitative evidence synthesis
TL;DR: The review has the following two objectives: to identify, appraise and synthesise qualitative research evidence on healthcare workers’ perceptions and experiences regarding their use of mHealth technologies to provide and support the delivery of primary healthcare services.
Journal ArticleDOI
Autism spectrum disorder in sub-saharan africa: A comprehensive scoping review.
TL;DR: A scoping review of all research on ASD ever published in sub‐Saharan Africa in order to identify knowledge gaps in this part of the world suggests a substantial need for large‐scale clinical, training, and research programmes to improve the lives of people who live with ASD in SSA.
Journal ArticleDOI
mHealth for Clinical Decision-Making in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review.
Ibukun-Oluwa Omolade Adepoju,Ibukun-Oluwa Omolade Adepoju,Bregje Joanna Antonia Albersen,Vincent De Brouwere,Jos van Roosmalen,Jos van Roosmalen,Marjolein B.M. Zweekhorst +6 more
TL;DR: The use of mCDSS in sub-Saharan Africa is an indication of progress in mHealth, although their effect on quality of service delivery is yet to be fully explored.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of a mobile phone short message service on antiretroviral treatment adherence in Kenya (WelTel Kenya1): a randomised trial
Richard T. Lester,Richard T. Lester,Richard T. Lester,Paul Ritvo,Edward J Mills,Antony Kariri,Sarah Karanja,Michael H. Chung,William Jack,James Habyarimana,Mohsen Sadatsafavi,Mehdi Najafzadeh,Carlo A. Marra,Benson B. Estambale,Elizabeth N. Ngugi,T. Blake Ball,Lehana Thabane,Lawrence Gelmon,Lawrence Gelmon,Joshua Kimani,Joshua Kimani,Marta Ackers,Francis A. Plummer,Francis A. Plummer +23 more
TL;DR: Patients who received SMS support had significantly improved ART adherence and rates of viral suppression compared with the control individuals, suggesting mobile phones might be effective tools to improve patient outcome in resource-limited settings.
Eff ects of a mobile phone short message service on antiretroviral treatment adherence in Kenya (WelTel Kenya1): a randomised trial
R T Lester,Richard T. Lester,Paul Ritvo,Edward J. Mills,Antony Kariri,Sarah Karanja,Michael H. Chung,William Jack,James Habyarimana,Mohsen Sadatsafavi,Mehdi Najafzadeh,Carlo A. Marra,Benson B. Estambale,Elizabeth N. Ngugi,T. Blake Ball,Lehana Thabane,Lawrence Gelmon,Joshua Kimani,Marta Ackers,Francis A. Plummer +19 more
TL;DR: In this article, a mobile phone short message service on antiretroviral treatment adherence in Kenya (WelTel Kenya1): a randomised trial is presented, which is based on a randomized trial.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mobile phone technologies improve adherence to antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting : a randomized controlled trial of text message reminders
Cristian Pop-Eleches,Harsha Thirumurthy,Harsha Thirumurthy,James Habyarimana,Joshua Graff Zivin,Markus Goldstein,Damien de Walque,Leslie MacKeen,Jessica E. Haberer,Sylvester Kimaiyo,John E. Sidle,John E. Sidle,Duncan Ngare,David R. Bangsberg,David R. Bangsberg +14 more
TL;DR: It is suggested that SMS reminders may be an important tool to achieve optimal treatment response in resource-limited settings and be used to promote high adherence to antiretroviral therapy.
Journal ArticleDOI
Annual Review of Medicine, Vol. 8
TL;DR: In addition to those topics which are reviewed annually, there is a special section on pediatrics, a detailed review of experiments on retrolental fibroplasia and a chapter on the special therapeutics of helminthic disease.
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Guest Editorial Introduction to the Special Section on M-Health: Beyond Seamless Mobility and Global Wireless Health-Care Connectivity
TL;DR: This editorial paper presents a snapshot of recent developments in wireless communications integrated with developments in pervasive and wearable technologies and addresses some of the challenges and future implementation issues from the m-Health perspective.
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