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. 2018 Mar 1;6(3):e50.
doi: 10.2196/mhealth.8760.

Reliability of Self-Reported Mobile Phone Ownership in Rural North-Central Nigeria: Cross-Sectional Study

William Nii Ayitey Menson  1 , John Olajide Olawepo  2 , Tamara Bruno  3 , Semiu Olatunde Gbadamosi  3 , Nannim Fazing Nalda  2 , Victor Anyebe  2 , Amaka Ogidi  4 , Chima Onoka #  4 , John Okpanachi Oko  2 , Echezona Edozie Ezeanolue #  3
Affiliations

Reliability of Self-Reported Mobile Phone Ownership in Rural North-Central Nigeria: Cross-Sectional Study

William Nii Ayitey Menson et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. .

Abstract

Background: mHealth practitioners seek to leverage the ubiquity of the mobile phone to increase the impact and robustness of their interventions, particularly in resource-limited settings. However, data on the reliability of self-reported mobile phone access is minimal.

Objective: We sought to ascertain the reliability of self-reported ownership of and access to mobile phones among a population of rural dwellers in north-central Nigeria.

Methods: We contacted participants in a community-based HIV testing program by phone to determine actual as opposed to self-reported mobile phone access. A phone script was designed to conduct these calls and descriptive analyses conducted on the findings.

Results: We dialed 349 numbers: 110 (31.5%) were answered by participants who self-reported ownership of the mobile phone; 123 (35.2%) of the phone numbers did not ring at all; 28 (8.0%) rang but were not answered; and 88 (25.2%) were answered by someone other than the participant. We reached a higher proportion of male participants (68/133, 51.1%) than female participants (42/216, 19.4%; P<.001).

Conclusions: Self-reported access to mobile phones in rural and low-income areas in north-central Nigeria is higher than actual access. This has implications for mHealth programming, particularly for women's health. mHealth program implementers and researchers need to be cognizant of the low reliability of self-reported mobile phone access. These observations should therefore affect sample-size calculations and, where possible, alternative means of reaching research participants and program beneficiaries should be established.

Keywords: Nigeria; cell phone use; developing countries; phone ownership; reliability; resource-limited setting; rural population; self report; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Script used when respondents were called.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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