Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30664467›Full record

ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2019

Public Views on Using Mobile Phone Call Detail Records in Health Research: Qualitative Study.

Kerina Helen Jones, Helen Daniels, Sharon Heys, David Vincent Ford

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kerina Helen JonesPopulation Data Science, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-8164-3718
Helen DanielsPopulation Data Science, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-8899-0333
Sharon HeysPopulation Data Science, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0002-3007-644X
David Vincent FordPopulation Data Science, School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-6551-721X

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/K006525/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMobile phone call detail records (CDRs) are increasingly being used in health research. The location element in CDRs is used in various health geographic studies, for example, to track population movement and infectious disease transmission. Vast volumes of CDRs are held by multinational organizations, which may make them available for research under various data governance regimes. However, there is an identified lack of public engagement on using CDRs for health research to contribute to an ethically founded framework.

objectiveThis study aimed to explore public views on the use of call detail records in health research.

methodsViews on using CDRs in health research were gained via a series of three public workshops (N=61) informed by a pilot workshop of 25 people. The workshops included an initial questionnaire to gauge participants' prior views, discussion on health research using CDRs, and a final questionnaire to record workshop outcome views. The resulting data were analyzed for frequencies and emerging themes.

resultsAt the outset, most participants (66%, 40/61) knew that location data were collected by operators, but only 3% (2/61) knew they were being used for health research. Initially, the majority of the participants (62%, 38/61) was content for their anonymous CDRs to be used, and this increased (80%, 49/61) after the discussion explained that safeguards were in place. Participants highlighted that terms and conditions should be clearer, as should information to phone users on data collection, privacy safeguards, sharing, and uses in research.

conclusionsThis is the first known study exploring public views of using mobile phone CDRs in health research. It revealed a lack of knowledge among the public on uses of CDRs and indicated that people are generally amenable to the use of anonymized data for research, but they want to be properly informed and safeguarded. We recommend that public views be incorporated into an ethically founded framework for the use of CDRs in health research to promote awareness and social acceptability in data use.

Indexed as

Public OpinionAdolescentAdultAgedCell PhoneEducationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrivacyQualitative ResearchRecordsSurveys and Questionnairesmobile phone usequalitative research

Identifiers

PMID30664467
PMCPMC6352010

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.