HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Feb 2;23(2):e17837. doi: 10.2196/17837.
In East Africa, where landlines are used by 1% of the population and access to the internet is limited, owning a cell phone is rapidly becoming essential for acquiring information and resources. Our analysis illuminates the perils and potential promise of mobile phones with implications for future interventions to promote the health of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) and to prevent HIV infection.
The aim of this study is to describe the current state of AYAs' phone use in the region and trace out the implications for mobile health interventions.
We identified 2 trading centers that were representative of southern Uganda in terms of key demographics, proportion of cell phone ownership, and community HIV prevalence. We stratified the sample of potential informants by age group (15-19 years and 20-24 years), gender, and phone ownership and randomly sampled 31 key informant interview participants within these categories. In addition, we conducted 24 ethnographic participant observations among AYAs in the communities of study.
AYA frequently reported barriers to using their phones, such as difficulty accessing electricity. Nearly all AYAs used mobile phones to participate in the local economy and communicate with sexual partners. Phone use was frequently a point of contention between sexual partners, with many AYAs reporting that their sexual partners associated phone use with infidelity. Few AYAs reported using their phones for health-related purposes, with most getting health information in person from health workers. However, most AYAs reported an instance when they used their phone in an emergency, with childbirth-related emergencies being the most common. Finally, most AYAs reported that they would like to use their phones for health purposes and specifically stated that they would like to use their mobile phones to access current HIV prevention information.
This study demonstrates how mobile phones are related to income-generating practices in the region and communication with sexual partners but not access to health and HIV information. Our analysis offers some explanation for our previous study, which suggested an association between mobile phone ownership, having multiple sexual partners, and HIV risk. Mobile phones have untapped potential to serve as tools for health promotion and HIV prevention.
在东非，仅有 1%的人口使用固定电话，且互联网接入有限，拥有一部手机正迅速成为获取信息和资源的必要手段。我们的分析揭示了手机带来的危险和潜在的希望，这对未来促进青少年和年轻人（AYA）健康和预防 HIV 感染的干预措施具有重要意义。
本研究旨在描述该地区 AYA 目前手机使用情况，并探讨移动健康干预的意义。
我们选择了两个贸易中心，它们在关键人口统计学特征、手机拥有率和社区 HIV 流行率方面具有代表性。我们根据年龄组（15-19 岁和 20-24 岁）、性别和手机拥有情况对潜在信息提供者进行分层，并在这些类别中随机抽取了 31 名关键知情者访谈参与者。此外，我们在研究社区中对 AYA 进行了 24 次人种学参与式观察。
AYA 经常报告使用手机存在障碍，例如难以获得电力。几乎所有 AYA 都使用手机参与当地经济活动并与性伴侣沟通。手机使用经常成为性伴侣之间的争议点，许多 AYA 报告说他们的性伴侣将手机使用与不忠联系在一起。很少有 AYA 报告使用手机获取与健康相关的信息，大多数人从卫生工作者那里获得面对面的健康信息。然而，大多数 AYA 报告说他们在紧急情况下使用过手机，其中分娩相关的紧急情况最为常见。最后，大多数 AYA 报告说他们希望使用手机进行健康相关的目的，并特别表示希望使用手机获取当前的 HIV 预防信息。
本研究展示了手机如何与该地区的创收实践和与性伴侣的沟通相关，但与获取健康和 HIV 信息无关。我们的分析为我们之前的研究提供了一些解释，该研究表明手机拥有量、拥有多个性伴侣与 HIV 风险之间存在关联。手机具有作为健康促进和 HIV 预防工具的未开发潜力。
