Table 10.
Reported ‘informal mhealth’ usage in the preceding 4 weeks (weighted percentages). Base: all current mobile phone users.
| Ghana (N = 592) | Ethiopia (N = 1004) | Malawi (N = 565) | ALL (N = 2161) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct communication (with clients, volunteers, colleagues, etc.) | ||||
| Voice calls | 98.6% | 100.0% | 99.3% | 99.0% |
| SMS/text messaging | 72.3% | 50.7% | 95.4% | 73.6% |
| WhatsApp (or similar) to contact an individual | 62.9% | 3.6%*** | 77.0% | 47.8% |
| Work-related group chat (e.g. WhatsApp) | 78.2% | 1.2%*** | 75.5% | 51.6% |
| Data collection and reporting | ||||
| Camera: capturing reports/paperwork | 69.7% | 21.5%*** | 64.9% | 52.3% |
| Calculator: for collecting data or making reports | 89.4% | 74.6%* | 94.9% | 87.8% |
| Sending data/reports via SMS/text | 41.6% | 33.8% | 75.8%*** | 50.8% |
| Sending data/reports via WhatsApp (or similar) | 61.1% | 7.2%*** | 70.6% | 46.4% |
| Seeking information/functions online | ||||
| Via Facebook or other social media | 18.5% | 28.3% | 16.2% | 17.8% |
| Via Google or other internet search | 74.2%*** | 12.9% | 17.3% | 34.9% |
| Via Playstore (or similar) for health-related Apps | 35.0%*** | 2.0% | 5.4% | 13.9% |
| Other tools/functions | ||||
| Notepad (or similar) for making notes | 8.7% | 2.1% | 16.4%* | 8.9% |
| Camera/video to record activities/events | 74.2% | 24.0%*** | 69.9% | 56.4% |
| Camera to take images of patient symptoms | 56.7%*** | 17.0% | 26.8% | 33.5% |
| Voice recording (e.g. for recording meetings) | 12.1% | 16.5% | 33.0%*** | 20.6% |
| Calculator: calculating medicine dosages | 78.4% | 59.7%* | 88.6% | 76.6% |
| Torch to work in the night | 60.5% | 62.9% | 69.2% | 65.7% |
| Torch for patient examination | 35.6% | 38.5% | 30.0% | 32.7% |
| Stopwatch (taking pulse or breathing rate) | 36.9% | 23.8% | 45.0% | 37.2% |
Note: Meta-analysis: differences between countries: statistically significant results shown in bold: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.