Asian Journal of Information Technology

Year: 2020
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
Page No. 35 - 44

Feasibility and Acceptability of Mobile Graphic-Based Reminders to Support Adherence of Tuberculosis Treatment in Developing Countries

Authors : Haji Ali Haji and Mwanakhamis Bashir Juma

Abstract: The phenomenon of rapid increment of the mobile phones can be utilized through supporting patients such as those who have TuBerculosis (TB) for treatment adherence. This utilization will enable these patients to directly communicate or receive health information such as reminder messages from healthcare facilities. However, the current mobile interventions such as text messaging and speech reminder systems have limited use for people with low literacy levels. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of mobile Graphic- Based Reminders (GBRs) to support compliance of treatment regimens among TB patients, especially, semiliterate and illiterate patients. A total of 59 adults who are active TB and taking anti-TB drugs were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. The trial was conducted in Zanzibar, Tanzania between 2015 and 2017. Participants were randomized to three groups: GBRs speech-based reminders control group without reminder. Participants participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews on feasibility and acceptability of this technology. Systematically analysed was used to analyse qualitative data. Quantitative data, resulting from experimental event logs which recorded based upon device metrics collected electronically and summarized descriptively using SPSS (Version 21). The results revealed that GBRs is generally acceptable; the feedback from participants was perceived usefulness-the intervention was beneficial in motivating and reminding patients to take medication as well as enabling provision of social support. The GBRs was found to be technically feasible to support compliance of TB treatment as data were obtained from most participants as expected most of the time.

How to cite this article:

Haji Ali Haji and Mwanakhamis Bashir Juma, 2020. Feasibility and Acceptability of Mobile Graphic-Based Reminders to Support Adherence of Tuberculosis Treatment in Developing Countries. Asian Journal of Information Technology, 19: 35-44.

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