Evaluation of Mobile Phone Usage in Patient Management: The Case of Igabi Public Health Facilities, Nigeria
Abstract:This study
evaluated mobile phone usage in the health facilities in Igabi local government
Nigeria. The study was guided by the following research objectives: i) to
establish the usage of mobile phone applications in the health facilities in
Igabi local government, Nigeria; and ii) to assess the factors hindering mobile
phone application usage in the health facilities in Igabi local government,
Nigeria. This study used cross-sectional survey design and a target population
of 325 participants. Sample size of 179 respondents was computed using Slovene’s
formula. The main research instrument was questionnaires. Data was analyzed
using frequency and percentage tables. The findings showed that mobile phones
were mainly used in health sector of For texting messages(83%),For making
calls(66.9%),For video charting(61.5%),For taking photos of different medical
related output(87.2%),,Patient Monitoring(43.5%),Medical Education and
Training(42.6%),Information management(30.4%),Time management (56.1%) and
,Emailing (59.5%). The results cited the following as major challenges of using
mobile devices in health sector. Anxiety(42.6%),Ignorance/lack of
knowledge/training (43.9%),Expensive(60.8%),Social influence (52.7%),Poor
network for smartphones(54.7%),Privacy and security issues(50.7%)No common
digital format for storing patient data.(45.3%),Technical challenges(47.3%).
The study recommended that the health sector since the patients are not
ignorant on the use of mobile devices (34.9%), the health sector should work on
the technical challenge, network for smartphones and integration of different
systems.