JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There is a 60% survival gap for children diagnosed with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) compared to high-income countries. Low caregiver knowledge about childhood cancer and its treatment result in presentation delays and subsequent treatment abandonment in LMICs. However, in-person education to improve caregiver knowledge can be challenging due to health worker shortages and inadequate training. Due to the rapid expansion of mobile phone usage throughout the world, mobile health (mHealth) technologies offer an alternative to delivering in-person education.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to assess patterns of mobile phone ownership and use among Tanzanian caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer as well as their acceptability of an mHealth intervention for cancer education, patient communication and care coordination.

Methods:

In July 2017, caregivers of children <18 years diagnosed with cancer and receiving treatment at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) were surveyed to determine mobile phone ownership, use patterns, technology literacy, and acceptability of mobile phone use for cancer education, patient communication and care coordination. Descriptive statistics were generated from the survey data using means and standard deviations for continuous variables and percentages for binary or categorical variables.

Results:

All eligible caregivers (n=40) consented to participate and completed the survey. Most caregivers (85%, n=34) used a mobile phone and expressed high acceptability in using these devices to communicate with a health provider regarding treatment support (98%), receive lab results (93%), receive reminders regarding upcoming appointments (95%), and receive educational information on cancer (88%). While only 9% (n=3) owned phones with smartphone capabilities, there was high self-reported literacy (74%) to open and read SMS messages.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess patterns of mobile phone ownership and use among caregivers of children with cancer in Tanzania. The high rate of mobile phone ownership and caregiver acceptability for a mobile phone-based education and communication strategy suggests that a mobile phone-based intervention, particularly one that utilizes SMS technology, would be feasible in this setting.