Table 5 Studies that investigated the potential of mobile phone-based ethnologies in the clinical or public health practices of NTDs (n = 7)
Reference, country | Mobile phone App | NTD | Participants | Study design | Outcome | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ali et al.54. Denmark | Smartphone uploading affected-skin photo for remote reading | Scabies | Individuals with itchy rash | App development and evaluation | Usability | 5% of cases found as having a high risk of scabies, effective in screening for scabies in primary care settings. |
Debrah et al.55. Ghana | Mobile phone-based Interactive Voice Response System | Lymphatic filariasis, ADLA | Community h. volunteers | App development and evaluation | Usability | Recorded higher lymphedema (590) and hydrocele (103) cases compared to paper-based reporting (417 and 76). |
Swathi et al.56. India | Mobile App for guiding professionals in rabies management and reporting | Rabies | Healthcare professionals | App development and evaluation | Usability | Usable and reliable in decision-making for rabies wound management, treatment, and prophylaxis |
Chew et al.57. Malaysia | Mobile phone cameras capturing urine calorimetry to measure dehydration | Dengue | Patients with dengue fever | App development and evaluation | Feasibility | Strong correlations between urine osmolality and urine color photo (p < 0.05). Valuable hydration status assessment. |
Snyder et al.58. Burkina Faso | Smartphone conjunctival photography for remote examinations | Trachoma | School-age TF/TI children | Post-validation surveillance | Diagnostic accuracy | >99% concordance with field grading, facilitating trachoma assessments |
Bhattarai et al.59. Nepal | SMS enhancing knowledge/practices of dengue-affected communities | Dengue | Households | Implementation research | Usability | Increases knowledge by 28 ∙ 6 points and practice by 28 ∙ 1 points. Effective, acceptable and appropriate |
Koydemir et al.60. Côte d’Ivoire | Smartphone 3D-printed microscope capturing stool/urine specimen images | Schistosomiasis | School-aged children | App development | Feasibility | More rapid with images captured only once, battery-powered, handheld, and easy to use. |
