ArticleBMC public health2018
Patients' understanding of telemedicine terms required for informed consent when translated into Kiswahili.
Article in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Ethical, Legal, and Sociocultural Issues in the Use of Mobile Technologies and Call Detail Records Data for Public Health in the East African Region: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2022Article
- Core health-components, contextual factors and program elements of community-based interventions in Southeast Asia - a realist synthesis regarding hypertension and diabetes.BMC public health · 2021Review
- Towards Telemedicine Adoption in Korea: 10 Practical Recommendations for Physicians.Journal of Korean medical science · 2021Review
- Level of education and preferred language of informed consent for clinical research in a multi-lingual community.African health sciences · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn Africa, where access to specialist medical services is often limited, telemedicine, the use of information and communication technologies for the provision of healthcare at a distance, can contribute towards enhancing access to healthcare. Informed consent is considered the cornerstone of ethical practice, especially when technology and techniques are considered new and or unproven. It is advised that informed consent should be gained in the patient's mother tongue. However, many African languages have not kept pace with technology and lack the words and terms needed to describe computing and technical terms. Additionally, even when present, patients may not understand these words and terms. This affects the validity of informed consent given.
methodsForty relevant computer terms and words used when explaining telemedicine during the consent process were selected and translated into Kiswahili. Patients at the outpatient department of the Kilifi County Hospital in Kenya participated. The study consisted of two phases. In the first, 50 people were asked whether they understood the translated words and terms and were able to explain their meaning. In the second (n = 42) they were asked to explain the meaning of the translated word, the original English word, and those words that could not be translated.
resultsOf the 40 terms, 14 could not be translated (35%). A total of 92 people attending the Kilifi County Hospital participated. Their average age was 31.2 ± 10.6 y, 70.7% were female and 55.4% were from rural areas. More than half of the respondents did not understand videoconference, store and forward, digital photograph, wireless, World Wide Web, antivirus or email in either language. No-one understood the words telemedicine, firewall, encryption, decryption and tele-diagnosis.
conclusionsCurrently it is unlikely that valid informed consent can be obtained for a telemedicine encounter in Kiswahili. Innovative solutions are required to overcome the barrier of languages failing to keep pace with technology and their effect on consent.
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