Availability of mobile phones for discharge follow-up of pediatric Emergency Department patients in western Kenya

Abstract

Objective. Mobile phones have been successfully used for Emergency Department (ED) patient follow-up in developed countries. Mobile phones are widely available in developing countries and may offer a similar potential for follow-up and continued care of ED patients in low and middle-income countries. The goal of this study was to determine the percentage of families with mobile phones presenting to a pediatric ED in western Kenya and rate of response to a follow-up phone call after discharge.Methods. A prospective, cross-sectional observational study of children presenting to the emergency department of a government referral hospital in Eldoret, Kenya was performed. Documentation of mobile phone access, including phone number, was recorded. If families had access, consent was obtained and families were contacted 7 days after discharge for follow-up.Results. Of 788 families, 704 (89.3%) had mobile phone access. Of those families discharged from the ED, successful follow-up was made in 83.6% of cases.Conclusions. Mobile phones are an available technology for follow-up of patients discharged from a pediatric emergency department in resource-limited western Kenya.

Long-term follow-up is possible for short-term surgical trips

“…However, obtaining long-term follow-up of patients is challenging for STSMs-and there are few descriptions of the methods used to achieve such follow-up and even fewer reports of clinical outcomes-making determination of their success challenging [3,6]. Achieving patient follow-up is challenging even for established hospital systems in rural, resource-poor settings where STSMs often function, but there is evidence that mobile phones may enhance patient follow-up in such settings, including rural Haiti [7][8][9][10][11][12]. The aim of this study was two-fold: 1) to evaluate the efficacy of mobile phones to facilitate long-term patient follow-up (> one year) among a cohort of STSM patients in rural Haiti and 2) to measure longterm surgical outcomes, particularly late postoperative complications (POC) and the impact of operations upon patient quality of life (QOL), not measurable in the perioperative period.…”

Assessing the feasibility of mobile phones for followup of acutely unwell children presenting to village clinics in rural northern Malawi

“…Reported access to a mobile phone was considerably less than the 89.3% cited for patients in urban areas in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). 5 This difference may be attributable to lower affluence, poorer accessibility to mobile phones and network coverage in rural areas.…”

m-Follow up for zinc adherence by caretakers of children with acute watery diarrhoea: A randomized controlled trial

“…Studies in Kenya have reported a two-fold increase in adherence for anti-retroviral treatment with text message (SMS) reminders. Likewise caregivers of paediatric patients attending emergency department had an 83.6% follow-up rates when reminded by SMS [ 13 – 15 ].…”