Overview
Health risk data can be used to monitor risk factors for early deaths and disease. Mobile Phone SurveyMobile Phone SurveyMPSs provide a cost-effective and efficient way to collect data via Short Message ServiceShort Message ServiceSMS (or text messaging), Interactive Voice ResponseInteractive Voice ResponseIVR, mobile web or Computer-Assisted Telephone InterviewingComputer-Assisted Telephone InterviewingCATI in countries with high mobile phone penetration. The use of Mobile Phone SurveyMobile Phone SurveyMPS facilitates the collection and analysis of data on early death risk factors and provides countries with population-level health information to guide public health decision making.
The Mobile Phone SurveyMobile Phone SurveyMPS project was developed to understand if these surveys could serve as a complementary health risk factor surveillance approach when implemented in-between established global health surveys, such as traditional household surveys. In select countries, where Mobile Phone SurveyMobile Phone SurveyMPSs and household surveys like WHO STEPS are both conducted, the findings are comparable. Visit the Publications page for more information about our work in action.
Through the Data for Health Initiative, the CDC Foundation supports efforts to strengthen health risk data and surveillance by:
- Supporting governments in using mobile phone technology for ongoing risk factor surveillance
- Developing a globally standardized protocol for survey implementation
- Evaluating the design and delivery of effective Mobile Phone SurveyMobile Phone SurveyMPSs to identify potential health risks
Mobile Phone Survey Process
The Mobile Phone Survey project utilizes a representative survey of adults aged 18 and older that uses mobile phone technology to collect data on disease prevalence and associated risk factors, as well as a wide array of health topics, including emerging health threats and health systems strengthening.
Following a standard protocol, data are collected through Short Message ServiceShort Message ServiceSMS (text messaging), Interactive Voice ResponseInteractive Voice ResponseIVR, mobile web, Computer-Assisted Telephone InterviewingComputer-Assisted Telephone InterviewingCATI or mixed modes. The Mobile Phone Survey project provides timely data to support monitoring and evaluation of public health programs and policies.
- Formalize stakeholder coordination plan
- Determine implementing agency
- Develop workplan and timeline
- Adapt protocol, including questionnaire and sample design
- Obtain ethical and regulatory approvals
- Determine data hosting solution
- Establish connections with mobile network operators
- Set up and test data collection tool
- Preform pretest data collection
- Determine optimal survey parameters and sample size for full-scale data collection
- Perform cognitive testing
- Finalize protocol
- Launch media awareness campaign
- Deploy full-scale data collection
- Monitor data-collection progress
- Aggregate data
- Execute quality assurance checks
- Construct sampling weights
- Analyze data
- Finalize fact sheet and executive summary
- Release data
- Disseminate findings
Frequently Asked Questions
Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Data for Health Initiative works with low- and middle-income countries, at both the national and subnational levels, to strengthen their collection and application of public health data. Specifically, the initiative works with countries to improve collection of birth and death data and increase the use of public health data to inform policy decisions and public health investments. In select countries, the initiative also collaborates on cancer registry enhancement and innovative survey methodology for data collection and policy reform on major NCD risk factors of early death. Through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies, the initiative partners with governments, national and international organizations and public health leaders in 25 countries.
Data surveillance supports country governments—such as ministries of health and statistics bureaus—in using mobile phone technology to collect population-level data for ongoing risk factor surveillance through Mobile Phone Surveys. The surveillance component uses a globally standardized protocol and questionnaire, along with an open-source survey tool, Surveda, for survey implementation.
WHO is responsible for WHO-supported STEPS household surveys in collaboration with ministries of health and country partners. The CDC, in collaboration with InSTEDD, supports protocol and technology development and implementation for the mobile phone surveys. JHU leads the research agenda on the use of mobile phones for surveillance, and the CDC Foundation provides resource and program support. All partners work in concert with ministries of health and country partners.
Access and use of mobile phones are increasingly widespread throughout the world and can be leveraged to collect high-quality data. Mobile phones have the potential to produce timely, affordable and accurate data to monitor public health trends.
Data are collected through SMS or text messaging, IVR, mobile web, CATI or mixed modes via an innovative, web-based platform. Data collected using CATI uses interviewer assisted data collection. Data collected using SMS, IVR, or mobile web uses self-administered data collection using Surveda. The data collection platform, Surveda, has a simple, easy-to-use interface, and utilizes open-source technology so that source code is free and publicly available.
The standardized questionnaire collects data that monitor disease indicator estimates and risk factors for early deaths. Countries adapt these questions to their context and can include additional questions on topics specific to them.
All data files are encrypted, without personally identifiable information, in a password-protected server. Please refer to our Where We Work page for additional details.
Executive summaries, country fact sheets and public use datasets are released within one year of data collection, as permitted by in-country data release policies. The initiative encourages countries to make anonymized data publicly available to inform national, regional and global priorities, promote research and facilitate cross-country comparisons.
Yes, refer to the Resources and Tools page to access to the Surveda data collection platform and our repository for survey manuals, instructional videos and other support tools. This repository also includes a collaborative forum for users to share experiences, work with other users and experts and discuss general issues related to survey implementation.
Contact Us
For more information regarding mobile phone survey process, tools and resources, implementation, or specific country survey results, please contact us at ncdmobile@cdcfoundation.org