Observational studyBMC pediatrics2017
Use of mobile phones and text messaging to decrease the turnaround time for early infant HIV diagnosis and notification in rural Zambia: an observational study.
Observational study in BMC pediatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Barriers associated with the implementation, adoption, scale-up and sustainability of mHealth in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review guided by the NASSS Framework.BMJ health & care informatics · 2026Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of point-of-care versus centralised, laboratory-based nucleic acid testing for diagnosis of HIV in infants: a systematic review of modelling studies.The lancet. HIV · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions to increase early infant diagnosis of HIV infection: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- mHealth communication to strengthen postnatal care in rural areas: a systematic review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Pooled it
- Barriers to the Use of Mobile Health in Improving Health Outcomes in Developing Countries: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Pooled it
- A pilot study of a novel, incentivised mHealth technology to monitor the vaccine supply chain in rural Zambia.The Pan African medical journal · 2019Trial
- Timing of antiretroviral treatment initiation and seropositivity to measles virus among children living with HIV in rural Zambia.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Quantifying cervical cancer radiotherapy care gap: Baseline assessment prior to implementation of a digital Health App.Technical innovations & patient support in radiation oncology · 2026Article
- Assessing the Response Results of an mHealth-Based Patient Experience Survey Among People Receiving HIV Care in Lusaka, Zambia: Cohort Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- A phone-based tobacco use cessation program for people living with HIV in Uganda and Zambia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Addiction science & clinical practice · 2024Article
- Unlocking the potential of telehealth in Africa for HIV: opportunities, challenges, and pathways to equitable healthcare delivery.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
- Improving the management and security of COVID 19 diagnostic test data with a digital platform in resource-limited settings: The case of PlaCARD in Cameroon.PLOS digital health · 2022Article
- A qualitative study of rural healthcare providers' views of social, cultural, and programmatic barriers to healthcare access.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- The NSEBA Demonstration Project: implementation of a point-of-care platform for early infant diagnosis of HIV in rural Zambia.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2021Article
- An Unstructured Supplementary Service Data System for Daily Tracking of Patient Samples and Diagnostic Results in a Diagnostic Network in Malawi: System Development and Field Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
- Mobile health applications for disease screening and treatment support in low-and middle-income countries: A narrative review.Heliyon · 2021Review
- The cost-effectiveness of scaling-up rapid point-of-care testing for early infant diagnosis of HIV in southern Zambia.PloS one · 2021Article
- Cost-effectiveness of adoption strategies for point of care HIV viral load monitoring in South Africa.EClinicalMedicine · 2020Article
- COVID-19 response in low- and middle-income countries: Don't overlook the role of mobile phone communication.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2020Review
- Acceptability and feasibility of testing for HIV infection at birth and linkage to care in rural and urban Zambia: a cross-sectional study.BMC infectious diseases · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly infant diagnosis of HIV infection is challenging in rural sub-Saharan Africa as blood samples are sent to central laboratories for HIV DNA testing, leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment initiation. Simple technologies to rapidly deliver results to clinics and notify mothers of test results would decrease many of these delays. The feasibility of using mobile phones to contact mothers was evaluated. In addition, the first two years of implementation of a national short message service (SMS) reporting system to deliver test results from the laboratory to the clinic were evaluated.
methodsThe study was conducted in Macha, Zambia from 2013 to 2015 among mothers of HIV-exposed infants. Mothers were interviewed about mobile phone use and willingness to be contacted directly or through their rural health center. Mothers were contacted according to their preferred method of communication when test results were available. Mothers of positive infants were asked to return to the clinic as soon as possible. Dates of sample collection, delivery of test results to the clinic and notification of mothers were documented in addition to test results.
resultsFour hundred nineteen mothers and infants were enrolled. Only 30% of mothers had ever used a mobile phone. 96% of mobile phone owners were reached by study staff and 98% of mothers without mobile phones were contacted through their rural health center. Turnaround times for mothers of positive infants were approximately 2 weeks shorter than for mothers of negative infants. Delivery of test results by the national SMS system improved from 2013 to 2014, with increases in the availability of texted results (38 vs. 91%) and arrival of the texted result prior to the hardcopy report (27 vs. 83%). Texted results arriving at the clinic before the hardcopy were received a median of 19 days earlier. Four discrepancies between texted and hardcopy results were identified out of 340 tests.
conclusionsMobile phone and text messaging technology has the potential to improve early infant diagnosis but challenges to widespread implementation need to be addressed, including low mobile phone ownership, use and coverage in rural areas.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.