Trends in mobile phone ownership, frequency of number changes, and implications for public health service delivery in Uganda, 2010–2020

作者：Robert Ssekubugu, Ping Teresa Yeh, Hadijja Nakawooya, Victor Ssempijja, Godfrey Kigozi, Joseph Kagaayi, Fred Nalugoda, Anna Mia Ekström, Betty Nantume, David Serwadda, Philip Kreniske, Zangin Zeebari, Michelle Moffa, Larry W. Chang, Kate Grabowski, Fredrick Makumbi, Helena Nordenstedt · 发表于：Scientific Reports · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1038/s41598-025-10887-1 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Mobile Health and mHealth Applications、ICT in Developing Communities、HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions

Mobile phones significantly improve access to healthcare, public health services, and disease surveillance globally. However, challenges related to reachability and accessibility persist, especially when individuals change or drop telephone numbers affecting continuity in public health interventions such as HIV follow-ups and vaccine reminders. We explored trends in phone ownership, changes in mobile phone numbers, associated factors, and the time it takes to better understand how these might affect the ability of phone-based public health services to reach targeted recipients. We used data from the Rakai Community Cohort Study, a population-based prospective open cohort in rural Uganda. Between 2010 and 2020, data on phone ownership and individuals' phone numbers were collected for six consecutive visits. We assessed trends in phone ownership using descriptive statistics. Factors associated with the number of times individuals changed their phone numbers were assessed using a Poisson multivariable regression model. We used Anderson Gill Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate the time-to-change of phone numbers. In total 41,922 participants contributed 97,034 visits. A majority (61.8%) of participants owned a mobile phone at some point from 2010 to 2020. Phone ownership increased over the study period from 51.2% in 2010 to 68.2% in 2020 (p < 0.001). Phone ownership was lower among women participants (versus men; adjPR = 0.81; 95% CI 0.78-0.83) and younger persons < 2...