The Implementation of a GPS-Based Location-Tracking Smartphone App in South Africa to Improve Engagement in HIV Care: Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background Mobile health interventions are common in public health settings in Africa, and our preliminary work showed that smartphones are increasing in South Africa. We developed a novel smartphone app—CareConekta—that used GPS location data to characterize personal mobility to improve engagement in HIV care among pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in South Africa. The app also used the user’s location to map nearby clinics. Objective We aimed to describe the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of using the app in a real-world setting. Methods We conducted a prospective randomized controlled trial at a public sector clinic near Cape Town, South Africa. We enrolled 200 pregnant (third trimester) women living with HIV who owned a smartphone that met the required specifications. All participants installed the app, designed to collect 2 GPS heartbeats per day to geolocate the participant within a random 1-km fuzzy radius (for privacy). We randomized (1:1) participants to a control arm to receive the app with no additional support or an intervention arm to receive supportive phone calls, WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, Inc) messages, or both from the study team when traveling >50 km from the study area for >7 days. In addition to mobility data collected daily through the phone, participants completed questionnaires at enrollment and follow-up (approximately 6 months post partum). Results A total of 7 participants were withdrawn at enrollment or shortly after because of app installation failure (6/200, 3%) or changing to an unsuitable phone (1/200, 0.50%). During the study period, no participant’s smartphone recorded at least 1 heartbeat per day, which was our primary feasibility measure. Of the 171 participants who completed follow-up, only half (91/171, 53.2%) reported using the same phone as that used at enrollment, with the CareConekta app still installed on the phone and GPS usually enabled. The top reasons reported for the lack of heartbeat data were not having mobile data, uninstalling the app, and no longer having a smartphone. Acceptability measures were positive, but participants at follow-up demonstrated a lack of understanding of the app’s purpose and function. The clinic finder was a popular feature. Owing to the lack of consistent GPS heartbeats throughout the study, we were unable to assess the efficacy of the intervention. Conclusions Several key challenges impeded our study feasibility. Although the app was designed to reverse bill participants for any data use, the lack of mobile data was a substantial barrier to our study success. Participants reported purchasing WhatsApp data, which could not support the app. Problems with the web-based dashboard meant that we could not consistently monitor mobility. Our study provides important lessons about implementing an ambitious GPS-based study under real-world conditions in a limited-resource setting. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03836625; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03836625 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1186/s13063-020-4190-x