School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia.
Organization for Rural Community Development (ORCD), Dariapur, Narail 7500, Bangladesh.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Dec 30;21(1):2326. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12418-9.
The use of digital interventions for managing chronic diseases is significantly increasing. The aim of this study was to estimate the proportion of ownership of a mobile phone, and factors associated with the ability to read and access SMS delivered health information, and willingness to pay for it among people with hypertension in a rural area in Bangladesh.
Data were collected from 307 participants aged 30 to 75 years with hypertension from a rural area in Bangladesh from December 2020 to January 2021. Outcome measures included ownership of a mobile phone, ability to read SMS, willingness to receive and pay for health information by SMS. Associated factors included age, gender, level of education, occupation, and socioeconomic status. We used regression analysis to identify variables associated with the outcome variables.
Overall, 189 (61.6%) people owned a mobile phone which was higher in men (73.3% vs. 50%, p < 0.001), younger people (82.6% aged 30-39 years vs. 53.5% aged 60-75 years, p < 0.001). Of the total participants, 207 (67.4%) were willing to receive SMS, and 155 (50.5%) were willing to pay for receiving SMS for health information. The prevalence was significantly higher among professionals (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.58, 1.73-12.1) and businesspersons (OR 3.68, 95% CI 1.49-9.10) compared to farmers, respectively. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) of willingness to pay for health information SMS was 10 (28) Bangladesh Taka (BDT) (1 BDT ~ 0.013 US$), and there were no specific factors that were associated with the willingness of any higher amounts of payment. In terms of reading SMS of people who own a mobile, less than half could read SMS. The proportion of people who could read SMS was significantly higher among men, younger people, educated people, middle class or rich people, professionals or businesspersons. Of people who could read SMS, the majority read SMS occasionally.
A significant proportion of people are unable to read SMS. However, people are willing to receive and pay to receive SMS for health information. Education and awareness programs should be conducted among targeted groups, including people with low education and women.
使用数字干预措施来管理慢性病的情况正在显著增加。本研究的目的是估计在孟加拉国农村地区患有高血压的人群中，拥有手机的比例，以及与阅读和访问短信发送的健康信息的能力、为其付费的意愿相关的因素。
本研究于 2020 年 12 月至 2021 年 1 月期间，从孟加拉国农村地区招募了 307 名年龄在 30 至 75 岁之间的高血压患者。主要结局包括拥有手机、阅读短信的能力、通过短信接收和支付健康信息的意愿。相关因素包括年龄、性别、教育程度、职业和社会经济地位。我们使用回归分析来确定与结局变量相关的变量。
总体而言，189 人（61.6%）拥有手机，男性（73.3%）高于女性（50%），（p<0.001），年轻人（82.6%年龄 30-39 岁）高于老年人（53.5%年龄 60-75 岁）（p<0.001）。在所有参与者中，207 人（67.4%）愿意接收短信，155 人（50.5%）愿意支付短信接收健康信息的费用。与农民相比，专业人员（优势比[OR]，95%置信区间[CI]：4.58，1.73-12.1）和商人（OR 3.68，95% CI 1.49-9.10）的比例明显更高。愿意支付健康信息短信费用的中位数（四分位距[IQR]）为 10 （28）孟加拉塔卡（BDT）（1 BDT~0.013 美元），没有特定因素与更高金额的支付意愿相关。就拥有手机的人阅读短信的能力而言，不到一半的人能够阅读短信。在男性、年轻人、受过教育的人、中产阶级或富人、专业人士或商人中，能够阅读短信的比例明显更高。在能够阅读短信的人群中，大多数人偶尔阅读短信。
相当一部分人无法阅读短信。然而，人们愿意接收并付费以接收短信提供的健康信息。应针对包括教育程度较低的人和女性在内的目标人群开展教育和宣传计划。
