Mobile Phone Surveys for Collecting Population-Level Estimates in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Literature Review

Abstract

BackgroundNational and subnational level surveys are important for monitoring disease burden, prioritizing resource allocation, and evaluating public health policies. As mobile phone access and ownership become more common globally, mobile phone surveys (MPSs) offer an opportunity to supplement traditional public health household surveys.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to systematically review the current landscape of MPSs to collect population-level estimates in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).MethodsPrimary and gray literature from 7 online databases were systematically searched for studies that deployed MPSs to collect population-level estimates. Titles and abstracts were screened on primary inclusion and exclusion criteria by two research assistants. Articles that met primary screening requirements were read in full and screened for secondary eligibility criteria. Articles included in review were grouped into the following three categories by their survey modality: (1) interactive voice response (IVR), (2) short message service (SMS), and (3) human operator or computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI). Data were abstracted by two research assistants. The conduct and reporting of the review conformed to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement.ResultsA total of 6625 articles were identified through the literature review. Overall, 11 articles were identified that contained 19 MPS (CATI, IVR, or SMS) surveys to collect population-level estimates across a range of topics. MPSs were used in Latin America (n=8), the Middle East (n=1), South Asia (n=2), and sub-Saharan Africa (n=8). Nine articles presented results for 10 CATI surveys (10/19, 53%). Two articles discussed the findings of 6 IVR surveys (6/19, 32%). Three SMS surveys were identified from 2 articles (3/19, 16%). Approximately 63% (12/19) of MPS were delivered to mobile phone numbers collected from previously administered household surveys. The majority of MPS (11/19, 58%) were panel surveys where a cohort of participants, who often were provided a mobile phone upon a face-to-face enrollment, were surveyed multiple times.ConclusionsVery few reports of population-level MPS were identified. Of the MPS that were identified, the majority of surveys were conducted using CATI. Due to the limited number of identified IVR and SMS surveys, the relative advantages and disadvantages among the three survey modalities cannot be adequately assessed. The majority of MPS were sent to mobile phone numbers that were collected from a previously administered household survey. There is limited evidence on whether a random digit dialing (RDD) approach or a simple random sample of mobile network provided list of numbers can produce a population representative survey.

Effect of airtime incentives on response and cooperation rates in non-communicable disease interactive voice response surveys: randomised controlled trials in Bangladesh and Uganda

“…These surveys include interactive voice response (IVR), where a participant uses a mobile phone keypad to enter responses to a prerecorded and automated questionnaire. IVR surveys have been used to collect subnational13 14 and national estimates15 of health and demographic indicators in LMICs. However, optimal implementation of MPS in these contexts remains poorly understood, particularly in regard to increasing participation rates and ensuring equitable data collection from different population segments 16.…”

Ethics of mobile phone surveys to monitor non-communicable disease risk factors in low- and middle-income countries: A global stakeholder survey

“…Active monitoring, the focus of our present work, requires deliberate participation of patients, communities, and/or health workers in reporting health information. Traditionally, active public health surveillance has been carried out through face-to-face (F2F) household surveys or contact with health care providers which can be considerably time and resource intensive (Gibson et al, 2017). The increasing ubiquity of mobile phone devices and availability of phone survey platforms provide an opportunity to explore the use of mobile phone surveys (MPS) to support active disease and risk factor surveillance, including for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (Brinkel, Krämer, Krumkamp, May, & Fobil, 2014;Hyder et al, 2017).…”

Testing the validity and feasibility of using a mobile phone-based method to assess the strength of implementation of family planning programs in Malawi

“…An alternative that would be more accurate is to directly observe health workers over time to record ISA indicators, which would be prohibitively time and resource-intensive. While several studies have shown that using mobile phone interviews for data collection provided accurate results at cheaper costs, further research should be conducted to explore whether respondents are more likely to give socially desirable responses over the phone, even when questions are about fairly objective attributes measuring structural quality [23,25].…”

“…The increasing saturation of mobile phones among the population in SSA countries makes use of mobile phones a viable alternative to collecting data through costly field work [24]. Still, using mobile phones for data collection has its own set of challenges, such as network availability and desirability bias among respondents [23,25].…”