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Response patterns to interactive SMS health education quizzes at two sites in U ganda: a cohort study
Author(s) -
Lepper Anne M.,
Eijkemans Marinus J. C.,
Beijma Hajo,
Loggers Jan Willem,
Tuijn Coosje J.,
Oskam Linda
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.12059
Subject(s) - medicine , incentive , psychological intervention , cohort , population , focus group , demography , environmental health , nursing , marketing , business , sociology , economics , microeconomics
Objective The use of mobile phones can improve and strengthen (preventive) health care in low‐ and middle‐income countries. We aimed to retrospectively assess the response patterns of participants in free SMS health education quizzes in Uganda. Methods Study participants were employees of two companies and their community networks. We investigated how quickly individuals responded to quiz question(s) and assessed possible influencing factors. Cox regression and anova analyses were used. Results Fifty percentage of responders answered within 50 min. The response chance declined with every additional day after sending an incentive via SMS (Hazard Ratio 0.993, CI 95% 0.981–0.984). Quiz topics influenced both participation rates and response time. Response time was shortest for questions on HIV and sexual behaviour. Response rates were high for HIV (79%) and malaria (78.4%), but only 37.4% for demographic topics. Network providers had a substantial effect on response behaviour. Conclusion Interactive SMS programs are a fast method to reach the target population and incentives increase response rates. The most important factor influencing response time and participation rate is the network provider. Future research should focus on developing evidence‐based guidelines for the design, implementation and evaluation of SMS‐ based interventions.