Marco J. Haenssgen|Proochista Ariana
The Social Implications of Technology Diffusion: Uncovering the Unintended Consequences of People’s Health-Related Mobile Phone Use in Rural India and China
University of Oxford|University of Oxford
three decades mobile phone diffusion thousands mobilephonebased health projects worldwide mhealth hundreds thousands smartphone health applications fundamental questions effect phone diffusion peoples healthcare behavior continue remain unanswered study investigated whether absence specific mhealth interventions people make different healthcare decisions use mobile phones illness following mainstream narratives hypothesized phone use illness increases b accelerates healthcare access study based original survey data 800 respondents rural rajasthan india gansu china sampled general adult population 2014 threestage stratified cluster random sampling design analyzed single multilevel logistic poisson negative binomial regression models clusterrobust standard errors contrary research intersection mobile phones healthcare captured actual healthrelated mobile phone use peoples illnesses irrespective whether phone analysis produced first quantitative microevidence patients personal mobile phone use correlated healthcare decisions despite positive association phone use healthcare access healthrelated phone use also linked delayed access public doctors nurses considered theoretical explanations observed patterns augmenting transaction cost information deficit arguments prevailing health system configuration notions heuristic decisionmaking healthcareseeking process study first step toward understanding implications mobile technology diffusion health behavior low middleincome countries absence specific mhealth interventions future research explore causal relationships underlying statistical associations link could potentially mean development interventions aimed improving access healthcare continue require conventional solutions sustain healthcare equity