TY - JOUR
T1 - Acceptability and use of interactive voice response mobile phone surveys for noncommunicable disease behavioral risk factor surveillance in rural Uganda
T2 - Qualitative study
AU - Ssemugabo, Charles
AU - Rutebemberwa, Elizeus
AU - Kajungu, Dan
AU - Pariyo, George W.
AU - Hyder, Adnan Ali
AU - Gibson, Dustin G.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the IM-HDSS team for their support in planning and organizing data collection as well as the community members for participating in the UGTs. The authors would also like to thank Viamo (formerly VOTOmobile) for their technical assistance with the IVR platform. Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the US National Institutes of Health under award number R21TW010415.
Publisher Copyright:
© Charles Garrett Ssemugabo, Elizeus Rutebemberwa, Dan Kajungu, George W Pariyo, Adnan A Hyder, Dustin G Gibson. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (http://formative.jmir.org), 03.12.2019. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Formative Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://formative.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
PY - 2019/10
Y1 - 2019/10
N2 - Background: There is need for more timely data to inform interventions that address the growing noncommunicable disease (NCD) epidemic. With a global increase in mobile phone ownership, mobile phone surveys can bridge this gap. Objective: This study aimed to explore the acceptability and use of interactive voice response (IVR) surveys for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors in rural Uganda. Methods: This qualitative study employed user group testing (UGT) with community members. The study was conducted at the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IM-HDSS) in Eastern Uganda. We conducted four UGTs which consisted of different categories of HDSS members: females living in urban areas, males living in urban areas, females living in rural areas, and males living in rural areas. Participants were individually sent an IVR survey, then were brought in for a group discussion using a semistructured guide. Data were analyzed thematically using directed content analysis. Results: Participants perceived that IVR surveys may be useful in promoting confidentiality, saving costs, and raising awareness on NCD behavioral risk factors. Due to the clarity and delivery of questions in the local language, the IVR survey was perceived as easy to use. Community members suggested scheduling surveys on specific days and sending reminders as ways to improve their use for surveillance. Social issues such as domestic violence and perceptions toward unknown calls, technological factors including poor network connections and inability to use phones, and personal issues such as lack of access to phones and use of multiple networks were identified as barriers to the acceptability and use of mobile phone surveys. However, incentives were reported to motivate people to complete the survey. Conclusions: Community members reflected on contextual and sociological implications of using mobile phones for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors. The opportunities and challenges that affect acceptability and use of IVR surveys should be considered in designing and implementing surveillance programs for NCD risk factors.
AB - Background: There is need for more timely data to inform interventions that address the growing noncommunicable disease (NCD) epidemic. With a global increase in mobile phone ownership, mobile phone surveys can bridge this gap. Objective: This study aimed to explore the acceptability and use of interactive voice response (IVR) surveys for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors in rural Uganda. Methods: This qualitative study employed user group testing (UGT) with community members. The study was conducted at the Iganga-Mayuge Health and Demographic Surveillance Site (IM-HDSS) in Eastern Uganda. We conducted four UGTs which consisted of different categories of HDSS members: females living in urban areas, males living in urban areas, females living in rural areas, and males living in rural areas. Participants were individually sent an IVR survey, then were brought in for a group discussion using a semistructured guide. Data were analyzed thematically using directed content analysis. Results: Participants perceived that IVR surveys may be useful in promoting confidentiality, saving costs, and raising awareness on NCD behavioral risk factors. Due to the clarity and delivery of questions in the local language, the IVR survey was perceived as easy to use. Community members suggested scheduling surveys on specific days and sending reminders as ways to improve their use for surveillance. Social issues such as domestic violence and perceptions toward unknown calls, technological factors including poor network connections and inability to use phones, and personal issues such as lack of access to phones and use of multiple networks were identified as barriers to the acceptability and use of mobile phone surveys. However, incentives were reported to motivate people to complete the survey. Conclusions: Community members reflected on contextual and sociological implications of using mobile phones for surveillance of NCD behavioral risk factors. The opportunities and challenges that affect acceptability and use of IVR surveys should be considered in designing and implementing surveillance programs for NCD risk factors.
KW - Behavioral risk factors
KW - Interactive voice response
KW - Mobile phones
KW - Noncommunicable diseases
KW - Surveillance
KW - Uganda
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U2 - 10.2196/15000
DO - 10.2196/15000
M3 - Review article
C2 - 31793889
AN - SCOPUS:85096964360
SN - 2561-326X
VL - 3
JO - JMIR Formative Research
JF - JMIR Formative Research
IS - 4
M1 - 15000
ER -