Kamulegeya Louis Henry, Bwanika JohnMark, Banonya Joy, Atuhaire Joan, Musinguzi Davis, Nakate Vivian, Kyenkya Joshua, Namatende Lydia, Horvath Keith J, Kiragga Agnes
The Medical Concierge Group, Projects and Research Department, Kampala, Uganda.
Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University, Department of Research, Kampala, Uganda.
JMIR Form Res. 2022 Jun 28;6(6):e34424. doi: 10.2196/34424.
With the region's highest population growth rate (30%), Uganda is on the brink of a population explosion, yet access to and utilization of public health control measures like modern contraception is a challenge. This is due to remotely located health facilities, noncustomized health content, and poor or nonfunctional post-facility follow-up.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a telehealth engagement platform primarily targeting men; the platform provided behavioral and informational messaging on modern contraception (ie, family planning) and its impact on shaping sexual and reproductive health and knowledge and uptake of family planning services.
A longitudinal cohort of men aged 18 years and older gave consent to receive mobile phone messages on family planning; follow-up was performed at months 1, 4, and 6 to assess key study-related outcomes on knowledge transfer and acquisition on modern contraception, partner communication, and spousal uptake of family planning. Qualitative interviews with the study participants' spouses were also performed.
The study included 551 study participants, 450 of whom were men, the primary study participants, who received the family planning mobile messages and 101 of whom were their spouses. Of the 450 primary participants, 426 (95%) successfully received the messages and only 24 (5%) reported not receiving them. The average response (ie, participation) rate in weekly quizzes was 23%. There was a noted 18.1% increase in couple communication attributed to the intervention; couples opened up more to each other on matters concerning family planning.
Using digital channels to address the concerns and inquiries of participants in real time or as fast as possible helped to increase the likelihood that couples adopted family planning.
乌干达的人口增长率在该地区最高（30%），正处于人口爆炸的边缘，但在获取和利用现代避孕等公共卫生控制措施方面面临挑战。这是由于卫生设施地处偏远、健康内容缺乏针对性以及设施后的随访服务不佳或无法正常运行。
我们研究的目的是评估一个主要针对男性的远程医疗参与平台的可行性和可接受性；该平台提供有关现代避孕（即计划生育）的行为和信息传递，以及其对塑造性健康和生殖健康以及计划生育服务知识和接受度的影响。
一个由18岁及以上男性组成的纵向队列同意接收有关计划生育的手机信息；在第1、4和6个月进行随访，以评估与现代避孕知识转移和获取、伴侣沟通以及配偶对计划生育的接受情况等关键研究相关结果。还对研究参与者的配偶进行了定性访谈。
该研究包括551名研究参与者，其中450名是主要研究参与者男性，他们接收了计划生育手机信息，101名是他们的配偶。在450名主要参与者中，426名（95%）成功接收了信息，只有24名（5%）报告未收到。每周测验的平均回应（即参与）率为23%。干预措施使夫妻沟通增加了18.1%；夫妻在计划生育问题上彼此更加坦诚。
利用数字渠道实时或尽快解决参与者的担忧和疑问有助于增加夫妻采用计划生育的可能性。
