Use of and Satisfaction With Mobile Health Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand: Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

BackgroundRamaCovid is a mobile health (mHealth) education system that provides the Thai population with information about COVID-19 and self-risk assessment. RamaCovid has a chatbot system that provides automatic conversations (available 24 hours per day) and a live chat function that allows users to directly communicate with health professionals (available 4 hours per day in the evening). The system consists of (1) COVID-19 vaccine information, (2) self-care after vaccination, (3) frequently asked questions, (4) self-risk assessment, (5) hospital finding, (6) contact number finding, and (7) live chat with a health professional. ObjectiveThis study investigates the use of and satisfaction with the RamaCovid system. MethodsOverall, 400 people were recruited via RamaCovid by broadcasting an infographic about the study. Questionnaires collected demographic data, users’ experiences of RamaCovid, and the use of and satisfaction with the system. The questions were answered using a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the participant characteristics and their use of and satisfaction with the RamaCovid system. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed to examine the difference in use and satisfaction between the adult and older adult groups. ResultsThe participants showed high use of and satisfaction with the RamaCovid system. They used the information to take care of themselves and their family, and they gained information about their COVID-19 risk. The users were satisfied with the system because the information was easy to understand, trustworthy, and up to date. However, the older adult group had lower use of and satisfaction with the system compared to the adult group. ConclusionsRamaCovid is an example of the successful implementation of mHealth education. It was an alternative way to work with the call center during the COVID-19 pandemic and increased access to health information and health care services. Providing ongoing updated information, improving the attractiveness of the media information, and the age group difference are important issues for further system development.