Prevalence of Mobile Phones and Factors Influencing Usage by Caregivers of Young Children in Daily Life and for Health Care in Rural China: A Mixed Methods Study |
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| Authors: | Michelle Helena van Velthoven Ye Li Wei Wang Li Chen Xiaozhen Du Qiong Wu Yanfeng Zhang Igor Rudan Josip Car |
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| Institution: | 1. Global eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.; 2. Department of Integrated Early Childhood Development, Capital Institute of Paediatrics, Beijing, China.; 3. Centre for Population Health Sciences and Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.; Brown University, UNITED STATES, |
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| Abstract: | IntroductionTo capitalise on mHealth, we need to understand the use of mobile phones both in daily life and for health care.ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence and factors that influence usage of mobile phones by caregivers of young children.Materials and MethodsA mixed methods approach was used, whereby a survey (N=1854) and semi-structured interviews (N=17) were conducted concurrently. The quantitative and qualitative data obtained were compared and integrated. Participants were caregivers of young children in Zhao County, Hebei Province, China.ResultsFour main themes were found: (i) trends in mobile phone ownership; (ii) usage of mobile phone functions; (iii) factors influencing replying to text messages; and (iv) uses of mobile phones for health care. The majority of 1,854 survey participants (1,620; 87.4%) used mobile phones, but usage was much higher among mothers (1,433; 92.6%) and fathers (41; 100.0%) compared to grandparents (142; 54.6%). Parents were able to send text messages, grandparents often not. Factors influencing the decision to reply to text messages in daily life were checking the mobile phone, trusting the sender, emotion or feeling when receiving a text message, the importance of replying and ease of use of text messages. Of 1,620 survey participants who used a mobile phone, about one in four (432; 26.7%) had used it for health care in the past three months and most (1,110; 93.5%) of 1,187 who had not wished to use their phone to receive health information.ConclusionWe found that usage of mobile phones is high, several factors influencing usage and an interest of caregivers to use phones for health care in Zhao County, rural China, which can be used to inform studies in settings with similar characteristics. Future work needs to assess factors influencing mobile phone usage in-depth to optimize experiences of users for specific mHealth-based interventions. |
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