Revisiting the Recommended Duration of Interviews Conducted by Mobile Phone in Low- and Middle-income Countries: A Randomized Trial in Malawi

Guidelines for conducting surveys by mobile phone calls in low- and middle-income countries suggest keeping interviews short (<20 minutes). The evidence supporting this recommendation is scant, even though limiting interview duration might reduce the amount of data generated by such surveys. We recruited nearly 2,500 mobile phone users in Malawi and randomly allocated them to 10-, 20-, or 30-minute phone interviews, all ending with questions on parental survival. Cooperation was high in all groups, and differences in completion rates were minimal. The extent of item nonresponse, age heaping, and temporal displacement of deaths in data on parental survival generally did not vary between study groups, but reports of maternal age at death were more reliable in longer interviews. Recommendations about the duration of mobile phone interviews might be too restrictive. They should not preclude additional modules, including ones on mortality, in mobile phone surveys conducted in LMICs

Qualitative study of practices and attitudes towards physical activity among prediabetic men and women in urban and rural Malawi.

OBJECTIVES: Given the decline in physical activity levels in Malawi, like other sub-Saharan African countries, and its implication for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention, this study aimed to compare and contrast accounts of practices and attitudes towards physical activity among Malawian men and women (previously identified as having pre-diabetes) in urban and rural settings. SETTING: Two communities: one urban (Lilongwe) and one rural (Karonga). PARTICIPANTS: 14 men (urban N=6, rural N=8) and 18 women (urban N=9, rural N=9) classified as prediabetic during their participation in an NCD survey 3-5 years previously. DESIGN: A qualitative focus group study (N=4) and thematic analysis, with the ecological model used as a framework to characterise the types of physical activity people engaged in and potential ways to support them to exercise more. RESULTS: Participants reported undertaking different types of physical activity across all ecological model domains (household, occupational, transport, recreational). Rural participants reported more vigorous physical activities than urban participants, and women reported more household activities than men. Many participants recognised a need to promote physical activity in Malawi, and the health benefits of doing so, including the importance of physical activity in helping them stay strong to maintain physical functioning. Barriers to physical activity included competing priorities (especially urban men), societal expectations around wealth, use of motorised transport, lack of accessible facilities for women, ageing and ill health. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity is declining in Malawi as working and transport practices change in response to economic development, making promotion of alternative forms of physical activity a public health priority. Multilevel interventions emphasising the personal benefits/value of physical activity for all ages, and routine and group-based exercising, as well as investment in accessible recreational facilities (including for women) and active travel infrastructure should be considered to improve physical activity levels in Malawi

Knowledge, risk perceptions, and behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi

BACKGROUND Behavioral changes are needed to limit the spread and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVE We measured knowledge and behaviors related to COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic in Malawi (Southeast Africa). METHODS Using lists of phone numbers collected prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we contacted a sample of adults by mobile phone in the six weeks after the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the country. We interviewed 619 respondents (79.5% response rate). RESULTS Approximately half of respondents perceived no risk or only limited risk that they would become infected with the novel coronavirus. Contrary to projections from epidemiological models, a large percentage of respondents (72.2%) expected to be severely ill if they became infected. Increased hand washing and avoiding crowds were the most frequently reported strategies used to prevent spreading SARS-CoV-2. The adoption of other protective behaviors (e.g., face masks) was limited. Respondents in urban areas had more accurate knowledge of disease patterns and had adopted more protective behaviors than rural respondents. CONCLUSIONS In the first weeks of the pandemic, the adoption of preventive behaviors remained limited in Malawi, possibly due to low perceived risk of infection among a large fraction of the population. Additional information campaigns are needed to address misperceptions about the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the likelihood of severe illness due to COVID-19. CONTRIBUTION This study provides early data on behavioral responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in a low-income country

Increased Age Heaping in Mobile Phone Surveys Conducted in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries

Since the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the number of surveys conducted remotely by mobile phone in low-income and middle-income countries has increased rapidly. This shift has helped sustain data collection despite restrictions on mobility and interactions. It might also allow collecting data more frequently on important demographic and socioeconomic topics. However, conducting interviews by mobile phone might affect the accuracy of reported data, for example, if respondents have difficulties understanding questions asked remotely, or data collectors have less time to probe and cross-check answers. In this visualization, the authors explore time trends in age heaping, a strong signal of reporting errors, in six African countries. They show that mobile phone surveys have generated noisier data on age than recent household surveys and censuses, thus possibly affecting researchers’ understanding of demographic processes and confounding multivariate analyses of socioeconomic outcomes

A qualitative study of practices and attitudes towards physical activity among pre-diabetic men and women in urban and rural Malawi

No abstract available