ArticleInteractive journal of medical research2022
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.
Article in Interactive journal of medical research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effectiveness of a Mobile Health Intervention (DOT Selfie) in Increasing Treatment Adherence Monitoring and Support for Patients With Tuberculosis in Uganda: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Trial
- Article
- Sociotechnical Cybersecurity Framework for Securing Health Care From Vulnerabilities and Cyberattacks: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Telemedicine and Digital Tools in Dentistry: Enhancing Diagnosis and Remote Patient Care.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Views and experiences of young people on using mHealth platforms for sexual and reproductive health services in rural low-and middle-income countries: A qualitative systematic review.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Enhancing Brain Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: Innovations in Lifestyle Interventions.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- Status and future prospects for mobile phone-enabled diagnostics in Tanzania.PLOS digital health · 2024Article
- Public health research using cell phone derived mobility data in sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical issues.South African journal of scienceArticle
- Monitoring Patient Adherence and Follow-up in Option B+ Program: Understanding Healthcare Workers' Practices, Challenges, and Facilitators in Lilongwe, Malawi.Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS CareArticle
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.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe exponential scale and pace of real-time data generated from mobile phones present opportunities for new insights and challenges across multiple sectors, including health care delivery and public health research. However, little attention has been given to the new ethical, social, and legal concerns related to using these mobile technologies and the data they generate in Africa.
objectiveThe objective of this scoping review was to explore the ethical and related concerns that arise from the use of data from call detail records and mobile technology interventions for public health in the context of East Africa.
methodsWe searched the PubMed database for published studies describing ethical challenges while using mobile technologies and related data in public health research between 2000 and 2020. A predefined search strategy was used as inclusion criteria with search terms such as "East Africa," "mHealth," "mobile phone data," "public health," "ethics," or "privacy." We screened studies using prespecified eligibility criteria through a two-stage process by two independent reviewers. Studies were included if they were (1) related to mobile technology use and health, (2) published in English from 2000 to 2020, (3) available in full text, and (4) conducted in the East African region. We excluded articles that (1) were conference proceedings, (2) studies presenting an abstract only, (3) systematic and literature reviews, (4) research protocols, and (5) reports of mobile technology in animal subjects. We followed the five stages of a published framework for scoping reviews recommended by Arksey and O'Malley. Data extracted included title, publication year, target population, geographic region, setting, and relevance to mobile health (mHealth) and ethics. Additionally, we used the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) Extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to guide the presentation of this scoping review. The rationale for focusing on the five countries in East Africa was their geographic proximity, which lends itself to similarities in technology infrastructure development.
resultsOf the 94 studies identified from PubMed, 33 met the review inclusion criteria for the final scoping review. The 33 articles retained in the final scoping review represent studies conducted in three out of five East African countries: 14 (42%) from Uganda, 13 (39%) from Kenya, and 5 (16%) from Tanzania. Three main categories of concerns related to the use of mHealth technologies and mobile phone data can be conceptualized as (1) ethical issues (adequate informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, data security and protection), (2) sociocultural issues, and (3) regulatory/legal issues.
conclusionsThis scoping review identified major cross-cutting ethical, regulatory, and sociocultural concerns related to using data from mobile technologies in the East African region. A comprehensive framework that accounts for the critical concerns raised would be valuable for guiding the safe use of mobile technology data for public health research purposes.
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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.