Disposición a utilizar aplicaciones digitales para aumentar la concienciación y mejorar la aceptación de los servicios de planificación familiar entre las mujeres en edad reproductiva en Zambia
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Introducción: A pesar del progreso en la última década, la adopción de servicios de planificación familiar sigue siendo un desafío en Zambia. Las intervenciones mediante teléfonos móviles podrían ayudar a aumentar tanto el acceso como la continuidad en el uso de métodos anticonceptivos, especialmente entre poblaciones de difícil acceso. El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar la disposición de las mujeres en edad reproductiva a utilizar una aplicación móvil para mejorar el acceso a los servicios de planificación familiar en comunidades seleccionadas de Zambia.
Métodos: Se llevó a cabo un estudio transversal en dos comunidades seleccionadas del distrito de Mumbwa entre octubre y noviembre de 2021. Los voluntarios de salud comunitaria fueron responsables de mapear los hogares dentro de las zonas de cobertura y de aplicar los cuestionarios de la encuesta. Se calcularon estadísticas descriptivas para variables dicotómicas y categóricas. Para evaluar asociaciones entre variables categóricas, se realizaron pruebas Chi-cuadrado. Todos los análisis de datos se realizaron utilizando STATA versión 14.2.
Resultados: Se encuestó a un total de 449 participantes, procedentes del Centro de Salud Urbano de Bulungu y del Centro de Salud Rural de Najanjoli. La mayoría de los participantes tenían entre 15 y 24 años (42.54%). Solo el 2.46% de los participantes reportó no tener educación formal, mientras que la mayoría había alcanzado nivel de educación secundaria (52.13%). La mitad de los hogares (51.70%) poseía teléfonos, de los cuales solo el 30% (126/440) eran teléfonos inteligentes. Además, el 83.41% (367/450) estaba dispuesto a recibir mensajes de planificación familiar por teléfono. Una proporción mucho mayor de participantes desempleados (73.02%; p<0.05), aquellos que accedieron a servicios en la Clínica Urbana de Bulungu (60.33%; p<0.05) y mujeres casadas (83.65%; p<0.05) estaban dispuestos a recibir mensajes de planificación por teléfono.
Conclusión: Este estudio demuestra una fuerte disposición al uso de aplicaciones digitales para aumentar la concientización y mejorar el acceso a servicios de planificación familiar entre mujeres en edad reproductiva en zonas rurales de Zambia. Estos hallazgos respaldan la viabilidad de implementar estrategias digitales o basadas en teléfonos dentro de los sistemas de salud comunitaria para mejorar el acceso a los servicios de salud. Se requiere más investigación para diseñar y evaluar soluciones de salud con telefonía móvil escalables y adaptadas al contexto local.
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