Acceptability of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management in a low-income and middle-income country setting: a formative qualitative study among patients and healthcare providers

Abstract

Background: Understanding contextual needs and preferences is important for a successful design and effective outcome of a mHealth strategy.

Objectives: This formative study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and providers on the acceptability of a mHealth (text message) strategy and elicit preferred features of a mHealth strategy for hypertension management.

Design: A qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions guided by the technology acceptance model.

Setting: The study was conducted at primary healthcare facilities and at a tertiary level referral hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Participants: A total of 61 participants, patients with hypertension (n=41), their family members (n=5), healthcare workers (n=11) and key informants (n=4) were included. We purposively recruited patients with hypertension aged 30-70 who attended the selected healthcare facilities to obtain maximum variation based on their age, sex and literacy.

Results: The respondents perceived the mHealth strategy to be useful as it would reinforce medication compliance and behaviour change. Participants valued the trustworthiness of information from health authorities that could be delivered privately. Some implementation challenges were identified including a lack of technical manpower, resources for software development, gaps in recording a patient's essential information and digital illiteracy. Solutions proposed were having system-level preparedness for recording the patient's details, establishing a separate technical department in the hospital and involving a family member to assist illiterate/elderly patients. In addition, participants preferred text messages in the local language, containing comprehensive contextual content (disease, treatment, cultural foods and misconceptions) delivered at regular intervals (2-3 times/week) preferably in the morning or evening.

Conclusions: We found that a simple text messaging strategy was acceptable for hypertension management in this low/middle-income country setting. However, meticulous planning must address the needs of a diverse range of participants to ensure the mHealth strategy is acceptable to wider groups.

Keywords: health informatics; hypertension; public health; qualitative research.