Mobile phone ownership and willingness to receive mHealth services among patients with diabetes mellitus in South-West, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: mobile phone technology is increasingly used to overcome traditional barriers to limiting access to diabetes care. This study evaluated mobile phone ownership and willingness to receive and pay for mobile phone-based diabetic services among people with diabetes in South-West, Nigeria.

Methods: two hundred and fifty-nine patients with diabetes were consecutively recruited from three tertiary health institutions in South-West, Nigeria. The questionnaire was used to evaluate mobile phone ownership, willingness to receive and pay for mobile phone-based diabetic health care services via voice call and text messaging.

Results: 97.3% owned a mobile phone, with 38.9% and 61.1% owning smartphone and basic phone respectively. Males were significantly more willing to receive mobile-phone-based health services than females (81.1% vs 68.1%, p=0.025), likewise married compared to unmarried [77.4% vs 57.1%, p=0.036]. Voice calls (41.3%) and text messages (32.4%), were the most preferred modes of receiving diabetes-related health education with social media (3.1%) and email (1.5%) least. Almost three-quarter of participants (72.6%) who owned mobile phone, were willing to receive mobile phone-based diabetes health services. The educational status of patients (adjusted OR [AOR]: 1.7{95% CI: 1.6 to 2.1}), glucometers possession (AOR: 2.0 [95% CI: 1.9 to 2.1) and type of mobile phone owned (AOR: 2.9 [95% CI: 2.8 to 5.0]) were significantly associated with the willingness to receive mobile phone-based diabetic services.

Conclusion: the majority of study participants owned mobile phones and would be willing to receive and pay for diabetes-related healthcare delivery services provided the cost is minimal and affordable.