IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/gjhsjl/v13y2021i2p123.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

mHealth and Health Care Service Delivery in Africa: A Systematic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Austin Eze Egede
  • Cajetan Ikechukwu Ilo
  • Maryjane Ikechukwu-Nwobodo
  • Tessy Amaka Nnaji
  • Rita Ihuoma Anaba
  • Ignatius Obilor Nwimo
  • Nwamaka A. Elom
  • Uchechukwu A. Ezugwu
  • Lazarus Eneje Ezugwu
  • Ifeanyi Jude Nkwoka

Abstract

We conducted a systematic review of studies on mHealth and health care services delivery that were carried out within Africa. Our search process was through MEDLINE, and then on PubMed, we searched key terms based on various keywords- “Whatsapp, health, Africa, Text messages, health impact, Africa, mHealth tools, Africa”. This was done in December of 2018. Only English written articles from journals indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Science Citation Index were incorporated in this review. In line with our inclusion criteria, only a total of 19 out of 155 studies were relevant. Inferences from these studies showed that mHealth tools are speedy and quality means for health care delivery in Africa. We also found out that there is less usage of internet devices in Africa as suspected. There is a serious need for improvement in the use of other online based mHealth tools as it was found that the use of Short Messaging Service (SMS) has been the nearly the sole mHealth intervention utilized in Africa. This, it is believed would foster better wider intervention and implementation of quality health outcomes in Africa, and other low and middle-income regions of the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Austin Eze Egede & Cajetan Ikechukwu Ilo & Maryjane Ikechukwu-Nwobodo & Tessy Amaka Nnaji & Rita Ihuoma Anaba & Ignatius Obilor Nwimo & Nwamaka A. Elom & Uchechukwu A. Ezugwu & Lazarus Eneje Ezugwu & , 2021. "mHealth and Health Care Service Delivery in Africa: A Systematic Review," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(2), pages 123-123, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:gjhsjl:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:123
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/download/0/0/44608/47110
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/view/0/44608
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hampshire, Kate & Porter, Gina & Owusu, Samuel Asiedu & Mariwah, Simon & Abane, Albert & Robson, Elsbeth & Munthali, Alister & DeLannoy, Ariane & Bango, Andisiwe & Gunguluza, Nwabisa & Milner, James, 2015. "Informal m-health: How are young people using mobile phones to bridge healthcare gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 90-99.
    2. Forenbacher, Ivan & Husnjak, Siniša & Cvitić, Ivan & Jovović, Ivan, 2019. "Determinants of mobile phone ownership in Nigeria," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1-1.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Granguillhome Ochoa, Rogelio & Lach, Samantha & Masaki, Takaaki & Rodríguez-Castelán, Carlos, 2022. "Mobile internet adoption in West Africa," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Abdulqadir, Idris A. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 44-61.
    3. Michael Addotey-Delove & Richard E. Scott & Maurice Mars, 2023. "Healthcare Workers’ Perspectives of mHealth Adoption Factors in the Developing World: Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-27, January.
    4. Alam, Mohammad Zahedul & Hu, Wang & Kaium, Md Abdul & Hoque, Md Rakibul & Alam, Mirza Mohammad Didarul, 2020. "Understanding the determinants of mHealth apps adoption in Bangladesh: A SEM-Neural network approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Haenssgen, Marco J. & Charoenboon, Nutcha & Zanello, Giacomo, 2021. "You’ve got a friend in me: How social networks and mobile phones facilitate healthcare access among marginalised groups in rural Thailand and Lao PDR," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    6. Mjellma Carabregu Vokshi But Dedaj Adel Ben Youssef Valentin Toçi, 2019. "Mobile phone penetration and its impact on inequality in the Western Balkan countries," Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 22(2), pages 111-130, November.
    7. Michel Kabirigi & Haruna Sekabira & Zhanli Sun & Frans Hermans, 2023. "The use of mobile phones and the heterogeneity of banana farmers in Rwanda," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 5315-5335, June.
    8. Kabirigi, Michel & Abbasiharofteh, Milad & Sun, Zhanli & Hermans, Frans, 2022. "The importance of proximity dimensions in agricultural knowledge and innovation systems: The case of banana disease management in Rwanda," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    9. Abdulqadir, Idris & Asongu, Simplice, 2021. "The asymmetric effect of internet access on economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Insight from a dynamic panel threshold regression," MPRA Paper 109904, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Edgar Cambaza, 2023. "The Role of FinTech in Sustainable Healthcare Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Narrative Review," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-17, July.
    11. Rudra P. Pradhan & Mak B. Arvin & John H. Hall & Sara E. Bennett, 2018. "Mobile telephony, economic growth, financial development, foreign direct investment, and imports of ICT goods: the case of the G-20 countries," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 45(2), pages 279-310, June.
    12. Haenssgen, Marco J. & Ariana, Proochista, 2017. "The Social Implications of Technology Diffusion: Uncovering the Unintended Consequences of People’s Health-Related Mobile Phone Use in Rural India and China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 286-304.
    13. Anstey Watkins, Jocelyn Olivia Todd & Goudge, Jane & Gómez-Olivé, Francesc Xavier & Griffiths, Frances, 2018. "Mobile phone use among patients and health workers to enhance primary healthcare: A qualitative study in rural South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 139-147.
    14. Patricia Abbott & Tanima Banerjee & Amparo Clara Aruquipa Yujra & Boqin Xie & John Piette, 2018. "Exploring chronic disease in Bolivia: A cross-sectional study in La Paz," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-22, February.
    15. Butler, Caroline, 2020. "Disaggregating the drivers of mobile technology adoption: the threat of unobservable gender biases," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224848, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    16. Haenssgen, Marco J., 2018. "The struggle for digital inclusion: Phones, healthcare, and marginalisation in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 358-374.
    17. Martínez-Domínguez, Marlen & Mora-Rivera, Jorge, 2020. "Internet adoption and usage patterns in rural Mexico," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Neumark, Tom, 2023. "Digital diagnostics from Tanzania: Beyond mere technological fixing?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 319(C).
    19. Yusef Ali Yusef Yakubi & Basuki Basuki & Rudi Purwono & Indrianawati Usman, 2022. "The Impact of Digital Technology and Business Regulations on Financial Inclusion and Socio-Economic Development in Low-Income Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, August.
    20. Rahman, Md Mahabubur & Ara, Tasnim & Chakma, Rio, 2022. "Explaining geospatial variation in mobile phone ownership among rural women of Bangladesh: A multi-level and multidimensional approach," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:gjhsjl:v:13:y:2021:i:2:p:123. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.