The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) recently put forth a Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 with several countries having already achieved key milestones. We aimed to understand whether and how digital health technologies (DHTs) are absorbed in Africa, tracking Ethiopia as a key no...

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Autores principales:	Tsegahun Manyazewal, Yimtubezinash Woldeamanuel, Henry M. Blumberg, Abebaw Fekadu, Vincent C. Marconi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/82d20cbfa2c8469a8e8500ac87a05469
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:82d20cbfa2c8469a8e8500ac87a054692021-12-02T16:45:39ZThe potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia10.1038/s41746-021-00487-42398-6352https://doaj.org/article/82d20cbfa2c8469a8e8500ac87a054692021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00487-4https://doaj.org/toc/2398-6352Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) recently put forth a Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 with several countries having already achieved key milestones. We aimed to understand whether and how digital health technologies (DHTs) are absorbed in Africa, tracking Ethiopia as a key node. We conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed-MEDLINE, Embase, ScienceDirect, African Journals Online, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform databases from inception to 02 February 2021 for studies of any design that investigated the potential of DHTs in clinical or public health practices in Ethiopia. This review was registered with PROSPERO ( CRD42021240645 ) and it was designed to inform our ongoing DHT-enabled randomized controlled trial (RCT) (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04216420 ). We found 27,493 potentially relevant citations, among which 52 studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 596,128 patients, healthy individuals, and healthcare professionals. The studies involved six DHTs: mHealth (29 studies, 574,649 participants); electronic health records (13 studies, 4534 participants); telemedicine (4 studies, 465 participants); cloud-based application (2 studies, 2382 participants); information communication technology (3 studies, 681 participants), and artificial intelligence (1 study, 13,417 participants). The studies targeted six health conditions: maternal and child health (15), infectious diseases (14), non-communicable diseases (3), dermatitis (1), surgery (4), and general health conditions (15). The outcomes of interest were feasibility, usability, willingness or readiness, effectiveness, quality improvement, and knowledge or attitude toward DHTs. Five studies involved RCTs. The analysis showed that although DHTs are a relatively recent phenomenon in Ethiopia, their potential harnessing clinical and public health practices are highly visible. Their adoption and implementation in full capacity require more training, access to better devices such as smartphones, and infrastructure. DHTs hold much promise tackling major clinical and public health backlogs and strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in Ethiopia. More RCTs are needed on emerging DHTs including artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, cybersecurity, telemedicine, and wearable devices to provide robust evidence of their potential use in such settings and to materialize the WHO’s Global Strategy on Digital Health.Tsegahun ManyazewalYimtubezinash WoldeamanuelHenry M. BlumbergAbebaw FekaduVincent C. MarconiNature PortfolioarticleComputer applications to medicine. Medical informaticsR858-859.7ENnpj Digital Medicine, Vol 4, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7
spellingShingle	Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics R858-859.7 Tsegahun Manyazewal Yimtubezinash Woldeamanuel Henry M. Blumberg Abebaw Fekadu Vincent C. Marconi The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
description	Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) recently put forth a Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 with several countries having already achieved key milestones. We aimed to understand whether and how digital health technologies (DHTs) are absorbed in Africa, tracking Ethiopia as a key node. We conducted a systematic review, searching PubMed-MEDLINE, Embase, ScienceDirect, African Journals Online, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform databases from inception to 02 February 2021 for studies of any design that investigated the potential of DHTs in clinical or public health practices in Ethiopia. This review was registered with PROSPERO ( CRD42021240645 ) and it was designed to inform our ongoing DHT-enabled randomized controlled trial (RCT) (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04216420 ). We found 27,493 potentially relevant citations, among which 52 studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising a total of 596,128 patients, healthy individuals, and healthcare professionals. The studies involved six DHTs: mHealth (29 studies, 574,649 participants); electronic health records (13 studies, 4534 participants); telemedicine (4 studies, 465 participants); cloud-based application (2 studies, 2382 participants); information communication technology (3 studies, 681 participants), and artificial intelligence (1 study, 13,417 participants). The studies targeted six health conditions: maternal and child health (15), infectious diseases (14), non-communicable diseases (3), dermatitis (1), surgery (4), and general health conditions (15). The outcomes of interest were feasibility, usability, willingness or readiness, effectiveness, quality improvement, and knowledge or attitude toward DHTs. Five studies involved RCTs. The analysis showed that although DHTs are a relatively recent phenomenon in Ethiopia, their potential harnessing clinical and public health practices are highly visible. Their adoption and implementation in full capacity require more training, access to better devices such as smartphones, and infrastructure. DHTs hold much promise tackling major clinical and public health backlogs and strengthening the healthcare ecosystem in Ethiopia. More RCTs are needed on emerging DHTs including artificial intelligence, big data, cloud, cybersecurity, telemedicine, and wearable devices to provide robust evidence of their potential use in such settings and to materialize the WHO’s Global Strategy on Digital Health.
format	article
author	Tsegahun Manyazewal Yimtubezinash Woldeamanuel Henry M. Blumberg Abebaw Fekadu Vincent C. Marconi
author_facet	Tsegahun Manyazewal Yimtubezinash Woldeamanuel Henry M. Blumberg Abebaw Fekadu Vincent C. Marconi
author_sort	Tsegahun Manyazewal
title	The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
title_short	The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
title_full	The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
title_fullStr	The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed	The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia
title_sort	potential use of digital health technologies in the african context: a systematic review of evidence from ethiopia
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/82d20cbfa2c8469a8e8500ac87a05469
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The potential use of digital health technologies in the African context: a systematic review of evidence from Ethiopia

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