Women's cellphone access and ownership in rural Uganda: implications for self-care interventions

• Main Authors: Willow Leahy (Author), Maryam Abomoslim (Author), Amy Booth (Author), Anna Gottschlich (Author), Nelly Mwandacha (Author), Hallie Dau (Author), Priscilla Naguti (Author), Beth Payne (Author), Laurie Smith (Author), Carolyn Nakisige (Author), Gina Ogilvie (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: BMC, 2024-02-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.1186/s44263-024-00038-5; 2731-913X
• Keywords: Human papillomavirus; Cervical cancer; Human papillomavirus DNA tests; Self-care interventions; Mobile health; Global health; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: BMC Global and Public Health, Vol 2, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2024)

Abstract Background The World Health Organization (WHO) call for cervical cancer elimination includes increasing global cervical screening coverage. HPV-based self-collection (HPV-SC) is a promising screening model for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and while digital technology, such as cellphones, can be used to streamline HPV-SC, there is limited data on digital technology penetration in LMICs. Determining women's cellphone access is critical to understanding the feasibility of using cellphones to support HPV-SC. Methods This study is a secondary analysis of a larger clinical trial. Participants of a cluster-randomized trial comparing HPV-SC models in Uganda completed a survey, including questions about demographics, cellphone access/ownership, prior cervical cancer screening (CCS), and willingness to receive CCS information by text. A logistic regression model was used to determine adjusted rates of cellphone ownership using survey variables as factors. Results Of 2019 participants, 76.1% owned a cellphone. In non-cellphone owners (n = 483), 82.4% had daily cellphone access and 7.3% had no access. Compared to non-cellphone owners, cellphone owners were significantly older, more educated, closer to major health centers, more likely to have prior CCS, and more willing to receive a CCS text. In the logistic regression model, the aforementioned variables were all significantly associated with the odds of owning a cellphone. Conclusions As health care systems consider adopting HPV-SC, it is imperative to understand digital technology penetration. The majority of participants were cellphone owners and were willing to receive CCS information by text; however, significant socioeconomic and demographic differences remain between cellphone owners and non-owners. Further investigation is needed to understand whether HPV-SC using cellphones is feasible in similar settings. Trial registration ISRCTN, 12767014 . ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04000503 .