Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34824118›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2021

Acceptability of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management in a low-income and middle-income country setting: a formative qualitative study among patients and healthcare providers.

Buna Bhandari, Aletta E Schutte, Rohan Jayasuriya, Abhinav Vaidya, Madhusudan Subedi, Padmanesan Narasimhan

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
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

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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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

6 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Buna BhandariSchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia buna.bhandari@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-0102-8844
Aletta E SchutteSchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9217-4937
Rohan JayasuriyaSchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-3108-2304
Abhinav VaidyaCommunity Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu, Nepal.ORCID 0000-0001-5523-3459
Madhusudan SubediSchool of Public Health, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Padmanesan NarasimhanSchool of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
UNSW Sydney · AUCommunity Medical Center · USPatan Academy of Health Sciences · NPThe George Institute for Global Health · GBTribhuvan University · NP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUnderstanding contextual needs and preferences is important for a successful design and effective outcome of a mHealth strategy.

objectivesThis formative study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and providers on the acceptability of a mHealth (text message) strategy and elicit preferred features of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management.

designA qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions guided by the technology acceptance model.

settingThe study was conducted at primary healthcare facilities and at a tertiary level referral hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

participantsA total of 61 participants, patients with hypertension (n=41), their family members (n=5), healthcare workers (n=11) and key informants (n=4) were included. We purposively recruited patients with hypertension aged 30-70 who attended the selected healthcare facilities to obtain maximum variation based on their age, sex and literacy.

resultsThe respondents perceived the mHealth strategy to be useful as it would reinforce medication compliance and behaviour change. Participants valued the trustworthiness of information from health authorities that could be delivered privately. Some implementation challenges were identified including a lack of technical manpower, resources for software development, gaps in recording a patient's essential information and digital illiteracy. Solutions proposed were having system-level preparedness for recording the patient's details, establishing a separate technical department in the hospital and involving a family member to assist illiterate/elderly patients. In addition, participants preferred text messages in the local language, containing comprehensive contextual content (disease, treatment, cultural foods and misconceptions) delivered at regular intervals (2-3 times/week) preferably in the morning or evening.

conclusionsWe found that a simple text messaging strategy was acceptable for hypertension management in this low/middle-income country setting. However, meticulous planning must address the needs of a diverse range of participants to ensure the mHealth strategy is acceptable to wider groups.

Indexed as

HypertensionTelemedicineText MessagingAgedHealth PersonnelHumansQualitative Researchhealth informaticshypertensionpublic healthqualitative research

Identifiers

PMID34824118
PMCPMC8627401
OpenAlexW3216074939

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.