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Adolescent-friendly technologies as potential adjuncts for health promotion

Janan J. Dietrich (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Canada-Africa Prevention Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Jenny Coetzee (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Canada-Africa Prevention Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Kennedy Otwombe (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Canada-Africa Prevention Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Sanele Mdanda (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Busisiwe Nkala (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Matamela Makongoza (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Celokhuhle Tshabalala (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Stefanie Hornschuh (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and Canada-Africa Prevention Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Christine N. Soon (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada)
Angela Kaida (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada)
Robert Hogg (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada and British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, Canada)
Glenda E. Gray (Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Health Sciences Faculty, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa)
Cari L. Miller (Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada)

Health Education

ISSN: 0965-4283

Article publication date: 2 June 2014

584

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure prevalence and predictors of mobile phone access and use among adolescents in Soweto, South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study was an interviewer-administered, cross-sectional survey among adolescents 14-19 years living in a hyper-endemic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) setting in South Africa.

Findings

Of 830 participants; 57 per cent were female. The median age was 18 years (IQR: 17-18). Mobile phone access was high (91 per cent). Almost half of participants (42 per cent) spent more than five hours daily using their mobile phones. Two-thirds (62 per cent) had access to the internet, most (84 per cent) accessed the internet via their mobile phones. Mobile phone access was more likely amongst Sotho language speakers (aOR: 2.87, 95 per cent CI: 1.30-6.36), those living in formal housing (aOR: 3.55, 95 per cent CI: 1.97-6.42) and those who reported heterosexual orientation (aOR: 2.37, CI: 1.35-4.16).

Originality/value

This study substantially contributes to the literature about mobile phones usage and patterns among school-going adolescents in Soweto, South Africa.

Keywords

Citation

Dietrich, J.J., Coetzee, J., Otwombe, K., Mdanda, S., Nkala, B., Makongoza, M., Tshabalala, C., Hornschuh, S., Soon, C.N., Kaida, A., Hogg, R., Gray, G.E. and Miller, C.L. (2014), "Adolescent-friendly technologies as potential adjuncts for health promotion", Health Education, Vol. 114 No. 4, pp. 304-318. https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-08-2013-0039

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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