TY - JOUR
T1 - Analyzing the mobile “Digital divide”
T2 - Changing determinants of household phone ownership over time in Rural Bangladesh
AU - Tran, Michael Clifton
AU - Labrique, Alain Bernard
AU - Mehra, Sucheta
AU - Ali, Hasmot
AU - Shaikh, Saijuddin
AU - Mitra, Maithilee
AU - Christian, Parul
AU - West, Keith
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Michael Clifton Tran, Alain Bernard Labrique, Sucheta Mehra, Hasmot Ali, Saijuddin Shaikh, Maithilee Mitra, Parul Christian, Keith West Jr. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 25.02.2015. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mhealth and uhealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
PY - 2015/3
Y1 - 2015/3
N2 - Background: We had a unique opportunity to examine demographic determinants of household mobile phone ownership in rural Bangladesh using socioeconomic data collected as part of a multiyear longitudinal cohort study of married women of reproductive age. Objectives: This paper explores how the demographics of household mobile phone owners have changed over time in a representative population of rural Bangladesh. Methods: We present data collected between 2008 and 2011 on household mobile phone ownership and related characteristics including age, literacy, education, employment, electricity access, and household wealth among 35,306 individuals. Respondents were enrolled when found to be newly pregnant and contributed socioeconomic information once over the course of the time period serving as a “sample” of families within the population at that time. Univariate and multiple logistic regressions analyses were performed to identify the socioeconomic determinants of household phone ownership. Results: Across 3 fiscal years, we found that reported household ownership of at least 1 working mobile phone grew from 29.85% in the first fiscal year to 56.07% in the third fiscal year. Illiteracy, unavailability of electricity, and low quartiles of wealth were identified as overall demographic constraints to mobile phone ownership. However, over time, these barriers became less evident and equity gaps among demographic status began to dissipate as access to mobile technology became more democratized. We saw a high growth rate in ownership among households in lower economic standing (illiterate, without electricity, low and lowest wealth index), likely a result of competitive pricing and innovative service packages that improve access to mobile phones as the mobile phone market matures. In contrast, as market saturation is rapidly attained in the most privileged demographics (literate, secondary schooling, electricity, high wealth index), members of the lower wealth quartiles seem to be following suit, with more of an exponential growth. Conclusions: Upward trends in household mobile phone ownership in vulnerable populations over time underline the potential to leverage this increasingly ubiquitous infrastructure to extend health and finance services across social and economic strata.
AB - Background: We had a unique opportunity to examine demographic determinants of household mobile phone ownership in rural Bangladesh using socioeconomic data collected as part of a multiyear longitudinal cohort study of married women of reproductive age. Objectives: This paper explores how the demographics of household mobile phone owners have changed over time in a representative population of rural Bangladesh. Methods: We present data collected between 2008 and 2011 on household mobile phone ownership and related characteristics including age, literacy, education, employment, electricity access, and household wealth among 35,306 individuals. Respondents were enrolled when found to be newly pregnant and contributed socioeconomic information once over the course of the time period serving as a “sample” of families within the population at that time. Univariate and multiple logistic regressions analyses were performed to identify the socioeconomic determinants of household phone ownership. Results: Across 3 fiscal years, we found that reported household ownership of at least 1 working mobile phone grew from 29.85% in the first fiscal year to 56.07% in the third fiscal year. Illiteracy, unavailability of electricity, and low quartiles of wealth were identified as overall demographic constraints to mobile phone ownership. However, over time, these barriers became less evident and equity gaps among demographic status began to dissipate as access to mobile technology became more democratized. We saw a high growth rate in ownership among households in lower economic standing (illiterate, without electricity, low and lowest wealth index), likely a result of competitive pricing and innovative service packages that improve access to mobile phones as the mobile phone market matures. In contrast, as market saturation is rapidly attained in the most privileged demographics (literate, secondary schooling, electricity, high wealth index), members of the lower wealth quartiles seem to be following suit, with more of an exponential growth. Conclusions: Upward trends in household mobile phone ownership in vulnerable populations over time underline the potential to leverage this increasingly ubiquitous infrastructure to extend health and finance services across social and economic strata.
KW - Bangladesh
KW - Demography
KW - Digital
KW - Family characteristics
KW - Finances
KW - Mobile
KW - Mobile Health (mHealth)
KW - Ownership
KW - Phones
KW - Socioeconomic factors
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84965141344&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/mhealth.3663
DO - 10.2196/mhealth.3663
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84965141344
SN - 2291-5222
VL - 3
JO - JMIR mHealth and uHealth
JF - JMIR mHealth and uHealth
IS - 1
M1 - e24
ER -