Trial reportJMIR mHealth and uHealth2020
Implementing mHealth Interventions in a Resource-Constrained Setting: Case Study From Uganda.
Trial report in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Using mHealth Technologies for Case Finding in Tuberculosis and Other Infectious Diseases in Africa: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- The Feasibility and Acceptability of an App-Based Intervention Aimed at Improving Maternal Health Literacy Regarding Infant Play and Development: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- User acceptability and perceived impact of a mobile interactive education and support group intervention to improve postnatal health care in northern India: a qualitative study.BMC medical informatics and decision making · 2025Trial
- Randomized trial evaluating an mHealth intervention for the early community-based detection and follow-up of cutaneous leishmaniasis in rural Colombia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Trial
- Frontline Health Workers' Perspectives of the World Health Organization Skin Neglected Tropical Diseases App in Kenya: Qualitative Study on AI-Embedded mHealth Implementation.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Using the NASSS-Complexity Assessment Tool to Evaluate the Implementation of "Cadê O Kauê?": Chat-Story Intervention for Youth Participation in Mental Health Promotion in Brazil.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- An mHealth-based social support program to improve antenatal care engagement and facility-based births in Uganda: A type I hybrid effectiveness-implementation clinical trial.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Co-designing eCap-CoDe: A mobile health application for primary health care-based dementia care in rural Uganda.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Psychometric evaluation of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility measures for a students' online health appointment system in a university hospital in Ghana.Implementation science communications · 2026Article
- Barriers and facilitators to delivering tobacco cessation interventions at HIV care clinics in Sub-Saharan Africa: Qualitative application of the consolidated framework for implementation research.Tobacco prevention & cessation · 2026Article
- Effect of SMS Reminders, Telephone Calls, and Transport Incentives on Enhancing the Completion of Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Initiation of Treatment for Diagnosed Patients: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Validating the information technology (IT) implementation framework to Implement mHealth technology for consumers: A case study of the Sense2Quit app for smoking cessation.International journal of medical informatics · 2025Article
- Trustworthiness of Web-Based Pharmacy Apps in Pakistan Based on the Mobile App Rating Scale: Content Analysis and Quality Evaluation.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- Integration of a Patient-Centered mHealth Intervention (Support-Moms) Into Routine Antenatal Care to Improve Maternal Health Among Pregnant Women in Southwestern Uganda: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Looking under the hood of a hybrid two-way texting intervention to improve early retention on antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: an implementation fidelity evaluation.Implementation science : IS · 2025Article
- Barriers and facilitators to oral pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake among adolescents girls and young women at elevated risk of HIV acquisition in Lilongwe, Malawi: A qualitative study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Effectiveness of Digital Health Interventions to Enhance Continuity of Care in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Patient preference and adherence · 2025Review
- Examining the challenges in sustaining user engagement with a mobile app to enhance multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) care in Vietnam and its implications for implementing person-centred mHealth interventions.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Looking under the hood of a hybrid two-way texting intervention to improve early retention on antiretroviral therapy in Malawi: an implementation fidelity evaluation.Research square · 2024Article
- Advancing mHealth Research in Low-Resource Settings: Young Women's Insights and Implementation Challenges with Wearable Smartwatch Devices in Uganda.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMobile health (mHealth) interventions are becoming more common in low-income countries. Existing research often overlooks implementation challenges associated with the design and technology requirements of mHealth interventions.
objectiveWe aimed to characterize the challenges that we encountered in the implementation of a complex mHealth intervention in Uganda.
methodsWe customized a commercial mobile survey app to facilitate a two-arm household-randomized, controlled trial of home-based tuberculosis (TB) contact investigation. We incorporated digital fingerprinting for patient identification in both study arms and automated SMS messages in the intervention arm only. A local research team systematically documented challenges to implementation in biweekly site visit reports, project management reports, and minutes from biweekly conference calls. We then classified these challenges using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR).
resultsWe identified challenges in three principal CFIR domains: (1) intervention characteristics, (2) inner setting, and (3) characteristics of implementers. The adaptability of the app to the local setting was limited by software and hardware requirements. The complexity and logistics of implementing the intervention further hindered its adaptability. Study staff reported that community health workers (CHWs) were enthusiastic regarding the use of technology to enhance TB contact investigation during training and the initial phase of implementation. After experiencing technological failures, their trust in the technology declined along with their use of it. Finally, complex data structures impeded the development and execution of a data management plan that would allow for articulation of goals and provide timely feedback to study staff, CHWs, and participants.
conclusionsmHealth technologies have the potential to make delivery of public health interventions more direct and efficient, but we found that a lack of adaptability, excessive complexity, loss of trust among end users, and a lack of effective feedback systems can undermine implementation, especially in low-resource settings where digital services have not yet proliferated. Implementers should anticipate and strive to avoid these barriers by investing in and adapting to local human and material resources, prioritizing feedback from end users, and optimizing data management and quality assurance procedures.
trial registrationPan-African Clinical Trials Registration PACTR201509000877140; https://pactr.samrc.ac.za/TrialDisplay.aspx?TrialID=877.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.