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Research article
Smartphone and Medical Application use Among Dentists in China
Jinlin Song
Chongqing Medical University
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0224-6640
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Background
With the development of information technology, more and more healthcare professionals are using smartphones and mobile medical applications (apps) in their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to survey the use of smartphone based medical apps among dentists in China and their perceptions on such apps.
Methods
All data were collected using anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires for this cross-sectional study were randomly sent to dentists by email, and 379 dentists completed the questionnaires. Dentists’ demographics and their perceptions on Wechat, QQ (the most popular social media apps in China) and other medical apps were assessed, including questions on the purpose, frequency, daily use, and opinion of these apps they used. Questions were answered using a Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = not sure, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree).
Results
A total of 379 valid responses were received with a median age of 33.6 years old (63.3% female). All subjects (100%) owned a smartphone, and all of them installed and used WeChat or QQ in their clinical practice. Only 76% subjects installed medical apps (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones. Male dentists would like to install medical apps than female dentists (p < 0.05). With the increasing of age, the percentage of dentists to install medical apps was decreasing ( p < 0.001). The frequency and daily use of WeChat or QQ were more often than medical apps. Medical apps were positively perceived, with dentists reporting to recommend these medical apps to other peers (Likert score: 1.67 ± 0.68).
Conclusion
Medical apps were perceived to provide positive impact on clinical practice, education and patient care in dentistry by providing relevant medical information. But there will be still much room for improvement in the future.
Keywords
smartphone, medical applications, dentistry, China, dentists
With the development of information technology and its cheaper charge, more and more people are becoming internet users in the word. Data show that the number of internet users in the world is nearly 4,536,248,808 by June 30, 2019[1]. There are 2,300,469,859 internet users in Asia with 54.2% proportion of the world. As so far, mobile devices (such as mobile smartphones and tablets) are the main tools for internet. Smartphone also has become handheld-computer rather than mobile communication device, because of its powerful computing function, capacious memories, large screen and open operating system. With tremendous flourishment of smartphone, it encourages the development of various third-party applications (apps) which could run in smartphone[2-5]. An app is a small specialized and customizable program which could provide various functions and services for user. In people’s smartphones, there are tens of apps, including medical apps. Except general public, more and more healthcare professionals are using medical apps in their clinical practice[2]. In such information society, medicine has undergone remarkable advancements. There have been many studies to survey the use of smart devices or medical applications among physicians[6-8]. In dental fields, we only could find some similar researches on the use of medical applications or mobile learning technology among dental students around the world[9-12]. But such research in dentists is few, especially in China.
From the above data about the number of internet users around the world, it’s easy to find Asia (especial China) will be a big market for smartphone and application. So the aim of our study was to examine the current use of smartphone based medical apps among dentists in China and their attitudes on them. We want to provide readers better understanding of: (1) the popularity of smartphone and medical application among dentists in China, (2) the factors of influencing dentists’ use of medical apps, and (3) dentists’ purposes of using such medical apps, and attitudes on them. Through the study, we hope computer scientists or dental healthcare professionals could design, improve and develop more convenient and useful smartphone-based applications according to current dentists’ opinions. We also hope to help these dentists who haven’t used medical application to select proper application to assist their clinical work.
Questionnaire and procedures
Considering Wechat and QQ are the most popular social media apps in China, we investigated the use of them in dental clinical practice separately. And the definition of medical apps in our study is a series of apps which are associated with clinical practice except Wechat and QQ.
The study questionnaire consisted of several parts. Part 1 collected dentists’ demographic data, including age, gender, workplace, medical rank, whether or not a smartphone was used, brand of smartphone. Part 2 investigated the use of Wechat and QQ in dentists’ clinical work, including whether or not using Wechat and QQ for work related activities, the purpose, frequency and daily use time of them. Part 3 surveyed the use of medical apps in dentists’ clinical work, including whether or not medical apps were installed, how many apps were installed, the purpose, frequency and daily use time of them. Part 4 assessed the dentists’ perceptions of smartphone based medical apps. Part 5 assessed the impact of medical apps on clinical practice. Responses to questions in parts 4–5 were based on a 5-point Likert scale: 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = not sure, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree.
The questionnaire was sent to 1500 dentists by email. And we received 390 dentists’ replies, with response rate of 26%. The questionnaire was reviewed by an expert panel for content validity and reliability. 11 dentists only responded the questions in part 1, so we didn’t adopt their questionnaires. Of the remaining 379 subjects, 91 dentists expressed they didn’t install any medical apps except Wechat or QQ, and they didn’t answer the questions in part 4 and part 5. So we only analyzed the remaining 288 dentists’ perceptions of these medical apps.
Statistical analysis
Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software (version 17, SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Subject characteristics were presented as frequencies (percentage). Quantitative Likert scale data were presented as mean ± standard deviation. A chi-square test was used to examine the difference of whether or not owning a medical app among different groups. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.
Demographic characteristics of surveyed dentists in China
A total of 379 valid responses were received. Study subjects had a median age of 33.6 years old (range: 19– 59 years old), and 240 (63.3%) subjects were female. 168 (44.3%) subjects worked in public hospital, and 211 (55.7) subjects worked in private hospital or clinic. Additionally, 47.2% subjects were resident dentists, 40.4% were dentists in charge, and 12.4% were senior or associate senior dentists. All subjects (100%) owned a smartphone. The most popular brands of smartphone were Apple (46.2%) and Huawei (34%, Table 1).
The use of Wechat or QQ in dentists’ clinical work
All participants installed Wechat or QQ on their smartphones, and they all used WeChat or QQ in their clinical practices. Participants reported their main purposes of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice were acquiring medical information (84.2%), communicating with peers (83.6%) and communicating with patients (77.6%). Frequency of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice was reported to be at least once a day (73.6%), at least once a week (20.8%), or less than once a month (5.5%, Table 2). The time of daily usage was shown in Table 2. 25.9% subjects used WeChat or QQ in clinical practice more than 60 minutes per day, 19% subjects reported their daily use time was 21-30 minutes, 17.4% subjects was 11-20 minutes.
The use of medical apps in dentists’ clinical work
288 (76%) subjects installed medical app (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones, and 91 (24%) subjects didn’t installed any medical app, as shown in Table 3. Male dentists would like to install medical apps than female dentists (chi-square = 6.702, p < 0.05). With the increasing of age, the percentage of dentists to install medical apps was decreasing (chi-square = 45.3.3, p < 0.001). However, dentists’ workplace and medical rank were not associated with the installment of medical apps significantly (chi-square = 1.670, p = 0.196; chi-square = 5.466, p = 0.065, respectively, Table 4). Among the 288 subjects, the average number of medical apps was 2.62±1.73 (range: 1-12). Most subjects (71.5%) reported they installed 1-5 medical apps on their smartphones, only 0.5% subjects installed more than 10 medical apps on their smartphones (Table 3). The frequency and daily use (in minutes) of these medical apps among dentists was shown in Table 5. 46.5% subjects used medical apps at least once a day, 42.4% subjects used them at least once a week, and 11.1% used less than once a month. About the daily use, the largest number was 11-20 minutes (31.6%) per day, followed by 11-10 minutes (29.2%) and 21-30 minutes (15.6%). Only 5.2% subjects reported they used medical apps more than 60 minutes per day (Table 5). The top three purposes of using medical apps were reviewing medical knowledge (63.6%), reading medical news (36.4%), and reading medical journals (27.9%, Table 6).
Perceptions of smartphone based medical apps and their impacts on clinical practice
The majority of subjects strongly agreed or agreed that they are looking to obtain more medical apps in the future (1.52 ± 0.69), they would recommend these medical apps to other peers (1.67 ± 0.68), medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies (1.91 ± 0.78), and medical apps supplement medical textbooks (1.83 ± 0.64). As for whether medical apps are superior to medical textbooks (3.16 ± 0.81) or medical apps can replace medical textbooks (3.31 ± 0.94), the majority subjects reported disagreement or not sure. 46.2% subjects agreed that there are dangers in using medical apps for patient care, and 39.6% subjects were not sure about this question (2.61 ± 0.73, Table 7).
The majority of subjects agreed that medical apps could improve clinical decision making (2.30 ± 0.77), save time (2.11 ± 0.68), help in making differential diagnoses (2.56 ± 0.74), and perform useful medical-related calculations (2.52 ± 0.77). Additionally, medical apps were thought to be beneficial for allowing faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case (2.34 ± 0.80), reliable sources of clinical skills (2.25 ±0.67), reliable sources of medical knowledge (2.19 ± 0.68), common laboratory reference values (2.30 ± 0.65), and medical information (1.90 ± 0.54, Table 8).
In the past decades, the technologies of mobile communication, mobile wireless internet and mobile devices have been widely used in many fields of human’s life. Under such background, customized and multi-functional applications (including medical applications) have flourished tremendously. Study showed more and more medical staffs installed medical apps on their smart devices (including smartphone and tablet) and used them frequently [2]. But there are few studies to assess the use of such medical applications among dentists. So in this study, we firstly did such research in China. By using anonymous questionnaires, we collected data on the use of smartphone based medical applications among dentists in China.
We found all participants (100%) in our study owned a smartphone, and the rate was a little higher than many other similar studies (ranged from 82% - 99.3%)[13-17]. The most popular brands of smartphone were Apple and Huawei (a Chinese Android smartphone), and the result was consistent with another study[17]. All subjects installed Wechat or QQ (the most popular social media applications in China) on their smartphones and used them in clinical practice. In 2016, Li et al investigated the effect of WeChat on the compliance and duration of treatment in orthodontic patients in China. The authors found it could reduce the treatment duration and bracket bond failure, and improve the attendance in orthodontic patients[18]. Additionally, in our study, we found 73.6% subjects used them at least once a day, and only 5.5% subjects used them less than once a month. 25.9% subjects reported they would use them in clinical practice more than 60 minutes per day. As we can see, it’s very prevalent to use such social media apps (including acquiring medical information, communicating with peers and communicating with patients) among dentists in China.
Only 76% participants (n = 288) installed medical app (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones. Though the rate was lower compared with the installment of Wechat and QQ, the number was still in agreement with many other studies in other areas of the world[13, 16, 19]. Our study found that there were significant differences between gender, age and whether or not installing medical apps. The finding was supported by many studies, in which young physicians were more likely to use medical apps as compared with old ones[7, 16]. In our study, male dentists were more likely to use medical apps than female. Because male is more interested in internet technology or software in China, which could interpret the phenomenon we found.
The average number of installed medical apps was 2.62, we could find it’s relatively small. According to the data of frequency and daily use of these medical apps, only 46.5% subjects used medical apps at least once a day, and only 5.2% subjects reported they used medical apps more than 60 minutes per day. Compared with the use of Wechat or QQ in China, we could found the use of medical apps among dentists in China was not very prevalent. And compared with US and British healthcare professionals with the use rate of over 90%, our sample of dentists still showed a relatively lower medical app use[20, 21].
Most of our subjects agreed or strongly agreed that they are looking to obtain more medical apps in the future and recommend these medical apps to other peers, which could reflect their affirmation and expectation towards medical apps. Most subjects agreed or strongly agreed that medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies and supplement medical textbooks. These were in agreement with several other studies that assessed the use of medical apps among dental students or junior doctors in many other regions around the world[9-12, 22-26]. Though dentists thought medical apps could improve education among students, they reported disagreement or not sure with medical apps are superior to medical textbooks or medical apps can replace medical textbooks. And most of them agreed that there are dangers in using medical apps for patient care. As we know, the accuracy of the information in one medical app is very important. If users make their clinical decision based on the inaccurate or outdated information in medical apps, it will lead to serious consequences. Many studies have been conducted to assess the quality and accuracy (including expert involvement and medical evidence adherence) of these medical applications in the past few years[27-33]. The expert involvement rate of these applications was ranged from 9% to 67% and the adherence rate was ranged from 0 to 87%[27]. So establishing appropriate regulatory procedures is extremely urgent. We believe government health authorities (such as Food and Drug Administration in America[34], Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in England[35], Health Canada in Canada[36] and corresponding authorizes in other countries) could play a key role. In order to regulate these medical apps well, the government health authorities could draft relevant guidelines which should be followed by the application developers.
About the effect of medical apps on clinical practice, from the dentists’ opinions in China, they strongly agreed or agreed that these medical apps could allow faster access to medical information with the best score (1.90 ± 0.54). But as for the other aspects of the effect, Chinese dentists’ attitudes were less positive than similar study[16]. From the results above, we could find out current medical apps in dentistry in China did well in providing relevant medical information and received positive reviews. But on the other hands (improve clinical decision making; save time; help in making differential diagnoses; perform useful medical-related calculations; faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case, reliable sources of clinical skills, reliable sources of medical knowledge, and common laboratory reference values ), medical apps did not meet the needs of dentists well. So in the future, there will be much room for improvement.
In conclusion, the use of smartphone and some social media apps (Wechat or QQ) is very common among dentists in China. And the use of medical apps is also prevalent. These medical apps received positive reviews, because most dentists reported they would want to obtain more medical apps in the future and recommend these medical apps to other peers. These medical apps could allow faster access to medical information for dentists in their clinical practices. But there is still much room for improvement in patient care in the future (such as assisting diagnoses and determining treatment options).
Limitation
There were some limitations in our study. First, our sample size was relatively small. We need a larger sample size to confirm our findings on medical app use among dentists in China in the future. Still, our results are in agreement with many similar studies conducted in other regions around the world and provide preliminary information. Second, our study only examined dentists’ perceptions of medical apps. Further studies should be conducted to examine dental patients’ use and perceptions of medical apps in order to examine how medical apps affect their oral healthcare. Third, our study did not investigate potentially negative impacts of medical app use. Because the issue of patient safety and privacy has been proposed in these years, we should focus on it in further investigation.
Funding: This study was supported by the Program for Innovation Team Building at Institutions of Higher Education in Chongqing in 2016 (NO CXTDG201602006), Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China in 2018 (Grant No: cstc2018jscx-mszdX0017).
Competing interests: None of the authors have any relevant financial relationship(s) with a commercial interest.
Author's contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Chao Zhang, Lin Fan, Cong Yu and Zhaowu Chai. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Chao Zhang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval
The study was performed according to the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, and the procedures were approved by the ethics committees of the Stomatological Hospital of the Chongqing Medical University (2019-79).
Consent to participate
The study did not involve any medical examination, surgical procedure, or collection of personal health information. Therefore, completing and returning the questionnaire was considered as provision of informed consent to participate in the study.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank colleagues in Stomatological Hospital of the Chongqing Medical University for their work in sending emails of questionnaire to our subjects.
Consent for publication
Not applicable
Author details
- College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, Chongqing, China.
- Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.
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|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Age |
≤ 30 |
152 |
40.1 |
|
|
31-40 |
181 |
47.8 |
|
|
41-50 |
24 |
6.3 |
|
|
> 50 |
22 |
5.8 |
|
Gender |
Male |
139 |
36.7 |
|
|
Female |
240 |
63.3 |
|
Workplace |
Public hospital |
168 |
44.3 |
|
|
Private hospital or clinic |
211 |
55.7 |
|
Medical rank |
Resident dentist |
179 |
47.2 |
|
|
Dentist in charge |
153 |
40.4 |
|
|
Senior/associate senior dentist |
47 |
12.4 |
|
Do you own a smartphone? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
What’s the brand of your smarphone? |
Apple |
175 |
46.2 |
|
|
Huawei |
129 |
34 |
|
|
OPPO |
33 |
8.7 |
|
|
Xiaomi |
28 |
7.4 |
|
|
Sumsung |
6 |
1.6 |
|
|
Others |
8 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Have you installed Wechat or QQ on your smartphone? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
Do you use WeChat or QQ in clinical practice? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
The purpose for using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice |
Communicating with patients |
294 |
77.6 |
|
|
Communicating with peers |
317 |
83.6 |
|
|
Acquiring medical information |
319 |
84.2 |
|
|
Others |
76 |
20 |
|
Frequency of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice |
At least once a day |
279 |
73.6 |
|
|
At least once a week |
79 |
20.8 |
|
|
Less than once a month |
21 |
5.5 |
|
Daily use of WeChat or QQ in clinical practice within dentists (in minutes) |
None |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1-10 minutes |
51 |
13.5 |
|
|
11-20 minutes |
66 |
17.4 |
|
|
21-30 minutes |
72 |
19 |
|
|
31-40 minutes |
49 |
12.9 |
|
|
41-50 minutes |
24 |
6.3 |
|
|
51-60 minutes |
19 |
5.0 |
|
|
>60 minutes |
98 |
25.9 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Have you installed medical apps on your smartphone? (except Wechat and QQ) |
Yes |
288 |
76 |
|
|
No |
91 |
24 |
|
How many medical apps do you have on your smartphone? |
No |
91 |
24 |
|
|
1-5 apps |
271 |
71.5 |
|
|
6-10 apps |
15 |
4 |
|
|
>10 apps |
2 |
0.5 |
|
|
|
Whether or not dentist installed medical apps |
Total |
Chi-square test |
df |
p-value |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
Gender |
Male |
116 |
23 |
139 |
6.702 |
1 |
0.010 |
|
|
Female |
172 |
68 |
240 |
|
|
|
|
Age |
≤ 30 |
124 |
28 |
152 |
45.303 |
3 |
0.000 |
|
|
31-40 |
144 |
37 |
181 |
|
|
|
|
|
41-50 |
16 |
8 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
> 50 |
4 |
18 |
22 |
|
|
|
|
Workplace |
Public hospital |
133 |
35 |
168 |
1.670 |
1 |
0.196 |
|
|
Private hospital or clinic |
155 |
56 |
211 |
|
|
|
|
Medical rank |
Resident dentist |
135 |
44 |
179 |
5.466 |
2 |
0.065 |
|
|
Dentist in charge |
123 |
30 |
153 |
|
|
|
|
|
Senior/associate senior dentist |
30 |
17 |
47 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
288 |
91 |
379 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Frequency |
At least once a day |
134 |
46.5 |
|
|
At least once a week |
122 |
42.4 |
|
|
Less than once a month |
32 |
11.1 |
|
Daily use |
None |
2 |
0.7 |
|
|
1-10 minutes |
84 |
29.2 |
|
|
11-20 minutes |
91 |
31.6 |
|
|
21-30 minutes |
45 |
15.6 |
|
|
31-40 minutes |
30 |
10.4 |
|
|
41-50 minutes |
16 |
5.6 |
|
|
51-60 minutes |
5 |
1.7 |
|
|
> 60 minutes |
15 |
5.2 |
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Reviewing medical knowledge |
241 |
63.6 |
|
Reading medical news |
138 |
36.4 |
|
Reading medical journals |
106 |
27.9 |
|
Clinical skills guide |
105 |
27.7 |
|
Communicating with patients |
98 |
25.9 |
|
Communicating with colleages |
97 |
25.6 |
|
Preparing presentations |
87 |
22.9 |
|
Assisting diagnosis |
80 |
21.1 |
|
Exam preparation |
67 |
17.7 |
|
During ward rounds |
64 |
16.9 |
|
Medication or drug guide |
64 |
16.9 |
|
Scheduling patients’ appointment |
47 |
12.4 |
|
Mobile learning |
30 |
7.9 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
Mean |
SD |
|
Medical apps are easy to obtain |
Strongly agree |
56 |
19.4 |
2.36 |
0.99 |
|
Agree |
127 |
44.1 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
54 |
18.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I am looking to obtain more medical apps in the future |
Strongly agree |
160 |
55.6 |
1.52 |
0.69 |
|
Agree |
114 |
39.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
5 |
1.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I would recommend these medical apps to other peers |
Strongly agree |
122 |
42.4 |
1.67 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
148 |
51.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
10 |
3.5 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
8 |
2.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I do most of my medical learning using medical apps |
Strongly agree |
62 |
21.5 |
2.43 |
1.17 |
|
Agree |
131 |
45.5 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
80 |
27.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies |
Strongly agree |
91 |
31.6 |
1.91 |
0.78 |
|
Agree |
140 |
48.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
48 |
16.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps are superior to medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
13 |
4.5 |
3.16 |
0.81 |
|
Agree |
56 |
19.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
98 |
34 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
115 |
39.9 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps can replace medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
3.31 |
0.94 |
|
Agree |
68 |
23.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
48 |
16.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
159 |
55.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps supplement medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
77 |
26.7 |
1.83 |
0.64 |
|
Agree |
193 |
67 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
8 |
2.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
1 |
0.3 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps provide useful point-of-care medical information |
Strongly agree |
54 |
18.8 |
2.28 |
0.97 |
|
Agree |
149 |
51.7 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
34 |
11.8 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
There are dangers in using medical apps for patient care |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
2.61 |
0.73 |
|
Agree |
133 |
46.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
114 |
39.6 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
34 |
11.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
Mean |
SD |
|
Improve clinical decision-making |
Strongly agree |
30 |
10.4 |
2.30 |
0.77 |
|
Agree |
166 |
57.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
67 |
23.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
25 |
8.7 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Save time
|
Strongly agree |
41 |
14.2 |
2.11 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
185 |
64.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
11 |
3.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to medical information |
Strongly agree |
53 |
18.4 |
1.90 |
0.54 |
|
Agree |
214 |
74.3 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
17 |
5.9 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
4 |
1.4 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to common laboratory reference values |
Strongly agree |
16 |
5.6 |
2.30 |
0.65 |
|
Agree |
185 |
64.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
72 |
25 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
15 |
5.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Help in developing differential diagnoses |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
2.56 |
0.74 |
|
Agree |
176 |
61.1 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
70 |
24.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
35 |
12.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Perform useful medical related calculations |
Strongly agree |
8 |
2.8 |
2.52 |
0.77 |
|
Agree |
163 |
56.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
78 |
27.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
38 |
13.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
1 |
0.3 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to reliable sources of medical knowledge |
Strongly agree |
28 |
9.7 |
2.19 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
194 |
67.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
50 |
17.4 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
16 |
5.6 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to reliable sources of clinical skills |
Strongly agree |
24 |
8.3 |
2.25 |
0.67 |
|
Agree |
180 |
62.5 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
71 |
24.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
13 |
4.5 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case |
Strongly agree |
39 |
13.5 |
2.34 |
0.80 |
|
Agree |
132 |
45.8 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
96 |
33.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
21 |
7.3 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
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Research article
Smartphone and Medical Application use Among Dentists in China
Jinlin Song
Chongqing Medical University
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ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0224-6640
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Background
With the development of information technology, more and more healthcare professionals are using smartphones and mobile medical applications (apps) in their clinical practice. The objective of this study was to survey the use of smartphone based medical apps among dentists in China and their perceptions on such apps.
Methods
All data were collected using anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires for this cross-sectional study were randomly sent to dentists by email, and 379 dentists completed the questionnaires. Dentists’ demographics and their perceptions on Wechat, QQ (the most popular social media apps in China) and other medical apps were assessed, including questions on the purpose, frequency, daily use, and opinion of these apps they used. Questions were answered using a Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = not sure, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree).
Results
A total of 379 valid responses were received with a median age of 33.6 years old (63.3% female). All subjects (100%) owned a smartphone, and all of them installed and used WeChat or QQ in their clinical practice. Only 76% subjects installed medical apps (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones. Male dentists would like to install medical apps than female dentists (p < 0.05). With the increasing of age, the percentage of dentists to install medical apps was decreasing ( p < 0.001). The frequency and daily use of WeChat or QQ were more often than medical apps. Medical apps were positively perceived, with dentists reporting to recommend these medical apps to other peers (Likert score: 1.67 ± 0.68).
Conclusion
Medical apps were perceived to provide positive impact on clinical practice, education and patient care in dentistry by providing relevant medical information. But there will be still much room for improvement in the future.
With the development of information technology and its cheaper charge, more and more people are becoming internet users in the word. Data show that the number of internet users in the world is nearly 4,536,248,808 by June 30, 2019[1]. There are 2,300,469,859 internet users in Asia with 54.2% proportion of the world. As so far, mobile devices (such as mobile smartphones and tablets) are the main tools for internet. Smartphone also has become handheld-computer rather than mobile communication device, because of its powerful computing function, capacious memories, large screen and open operating system. With tremendous flourishment of smartphone, it encourages the development of various third-party applications (apps) which could run in smartphone[2-5]. An app is a small specialized and customizable program which could provide various functions and services for user. In people’s smartphones, there are tens of apps, including medical apps. Except general public, more and more healthcare professionals are using medical apps in their clinical practice[2]. In such information society, medicine has undergone remarkable advancements. There have been many studies to survey the use of smart devices or medical applications among physicians[6-8]. In dental fields, we only could find some similar researches on the use of medical applications or mobile learning technology among dental students around the world[9-12]. But such research in dentists is few, especially in China.
From the above data about the number of internet users around the world, it’s easy to find Asia (especial China) will be a big market for smartphone and application. So the aim of our study was to examine the current use of smartphone based medical apps among dentists in China and their attitudes on them. We want to provide readers better understanding of: (1) the popularity of smartphone and medical application among dentists in China, (2) the factors of influencing dentists’ use of medical apps, and (3) dentists’ purposes of using such medical apps, and attitudes on them. Through the study, we hope computer scientists or dental healthcare professionals could design, improve and develop more convenient and useful smartphone-based applications according to current dentists’ opinions. We also hope to help these dentists who haven’t used medical application to select proper application to assist their clinical work.
Questionnaire and procedures
Considering Wechat and QQ are the most popular social media apps in China, we investigated the use of them in dental clinical practice separately. And the definition of medical apps in our study is a series of apps which are associated with clinical practice except Wechat and QQ.
The study questionnaire consisted of several parts. Part 1 collected dentists’ demographic data, including age, gender, workplace, medical rank, whether or not a smartphone was used, brand of smartphone. Part 2 investigated the use of Wechat and QQ in dentists’ clinical work, including whether or not using Wechat and QQ for work related activities, the purpose, frequency and daily use time of them. Part 3 surveyed the use of medical apps in dentists’ clinical work, including whether or not medical apps were installed, how many apps were installed, the purpose, frequency and daily use time of them. Part 4 assessed the dentists’ perceptions of smartphone based medical apps. Part 5 assessed the impact of medical apps on clinical practice. Responses to questions in parts 4–5 were based on a 5-point Likert scale: 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = not sure, 4 = disagree, and 5 = strongly disagree.
The questionnaire was sent to 1500 dentists by email. And we received 390 dentists’ replies, with response rate of 26%. The questionnaire was reviewed by an expert panel for content validity and reliability. 11 dentists only responded the questions in part 1, so we didn’t adopt their questionnaires. Of the remaining 379 subjects, 91 dentists expressed they didn’t install any medical apps except Wechat or QQ, and they didn’t answer the questions in part 4 and part 5. So we only analyzed the remaining 288 dentists’ perceptions of these medical apps.
Statistical analysis
Data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software (version 17, SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Subject characteristics were presented as frequencies (percentage). Quantitative Likert scale data were presented as mean ± standard deviation. A chi-square test was used to examine the difference of whether or not owning a medical app among different groups. A p value of < 0.05 was considered significant.
Demographic characteristics of surveyed dentists in China
A total of 379 valid responses were received. Study subjects had a median age of 33.6 years old (range: 19– 59 years old), and 240 (63.3%) subjects were female. 168 (44.3%) subjects worked in public hospital, and 211 (55.7) subjects worked in private hospital or clinic. Additionally, 47.2% subjects were resident dentists, 40.4% were dentists in charge, and 12.4% were senior or associate senior dentists. All subjects (100%) owned a smartphone. The most popular brands of smartphone were Apple (46.2%) and Huawei (34%, Table 1).
The use of Wechat or QQ in dentists’ clinical work
All participants installed Wechat or QQ on their smartphones, and they all used WeChat or QQ in their clinical practices. Participants reported their main purposes of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice were acquiring medical information (84.2%), communicating with peers (83.6%) and communicating with patients (77.6%). Frequency of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice was reported to be at least once a day (73.6%), at least once a week (20.8%), or less than once a month (5.5%, Table 2). The time of daily usage was shown in Table 2. 25.9% subjects used WeChat or QQ in clinical practice more than 60 minutes per day, 19% subjects reported their daily use time was 21-30 minutes, 17.4% subjects was 11-20 minutes.
The use of medical apps in dentists’ clinical work
288 (76%) subjects installed medical app (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones, and 91 (24%) subjects didn’t installed any medical app, as shown in Table 3. Male dentists would like to install medical apps than female dentists (chi-square = 6.702, p < 0.05). With the increasing of age, the percentage of dentists to install medical apps was decreasing (chi-square = 45.3.3, p < 0.001). However, dentists’ workplace and medical rank were not associated with the installment of medical apps significantly (chi-square = 1.670, p = 0.196; chi-square = 5.466, p = 0.065, respectively, Table 4). Among the 288 subjects, the average number of medical apps was 2.62±1.73 (range: 1-12). Most subjects (71.5%) reported they installed 1-5 medical apps on their smartphones, only 0.5% subjects installed more than 10 medical apps on their smartphones (Table 3). The frequency and daily use (in minutes) of these medical apps among dentists was shown in Table 5. 46.5% subjects used medical apps at least once a day, 42.4% subjects used them at least once a week, and 11.1% used less than once a month. About the daily use, the largest number was 11-20 minutes (31.6%) per day, followed by 11-10 minutes (29.2%) and 21-30 minutes (15.6%). Only 5.2% subjects reported they used medical apps more than 60 minutes per day (Table 5). The top three purposes of using medical apps were reviewing medical knowledge (63.6%), reading medical news (36.4%), and reading medical journals (27.9%, Table 6).
Perceptions of smartphone based medical apps and their impacts on clinical practice
The majority of subjects strongly agreed or agreed that they are looking to obtain more medical apps in the future (1.52 ± 0.69), they would recommend these medical apps to other peers (1.67 ± 0.68), medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies (1.91 ± 0.78), and medical apps supplement medical textbooks (1.83 ± 0.64). As for whether medical apps are superior to medical textbooks (3.16 ± 0.81) or medical apps can replace medical textbooks (3.31 ± 0.94), the majority subjects reported disagreement or not sure. 46.2% subjects agreed that there are dangers in using medical apps for patient care, and 39.6% subjects were not sure about this question (2.61 ± 0.73, Table 7).
The majority of subjects agreed that medical apps could improve clinical decision making (2.30 ± 0.77), save time (2.11 ± 0.68), help in making differential diagnoses (2.56 ± 0.74), and perform useful medical-related calculations (2.52 ± 0.77). Additionally, medical apps were thought to be beneficial for allowing faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case (2.34 ± 0.80), reliable sources of clinical skills (2.25 ±0.67), reliable sources of medical knowledge (2.19 ± 0.68), common laboratory reference values (2.30 ± 0.65), and medical information (1.90 ± 0.54, Table 8).
In the past decades, the technologies of mobile communication, mobile wireless internet and mobile devices have been widely used in many fields of human’s life. Under such background, customized and multi-functional applications (including medical applications) have flourished tremendously. Study showed more and more medical staffs installed medical apps on their smart devices (including smartphone and tablet) and used them frequently [2]. But there are few studies to assess the use of such medical applications among dentists. So in this study, we firstly did such research in China. By using anonymous questionnaires, we collected data on the use of smartphone based medical applications among dentists in China.
We found all participants (100%) in our study owned a smartphone, and the rate was a little higher than many other similar studies (ranged from 82% - 99.3%)[13-17]. The most popular brands of smartphone were Apple and Huawei (a Chinese Android smartphone), and the result was consistent with another study[17]. All subjects installed Wechat or QQ (the most popular social media applications in China) on their smartphones and used them in clinical practice. In 2016, Li et al investigated the effect of WeChat on the compliance and duration of treatment in orthodontic patients in China. The authors found it could reduce the treatment duration and bracket bond failure, and improve the attendance in orthodontic patients[18]. Additionally, in our study, we found 73.6% subjects used them at least once a day, and only 5.5% subjects used them less than once a month. 25.9% subjects reported they would use them in clinical practice more than 60 minutes per day. As we can see, it’s very prevalent to use such social media apps (including acquiring medical information, communicating with peers and communicating with patients) among dentists in China.
Only 76% participants (n = 288) installed medical app (except Wechat and QQ) on their smartphones. Though the rate was lower compared with the installment of Wechat and QQ, the number was still in agreement with many other studies in other areas of the world[13, 16, 19]. Our study found that there were significant differences between gender, age and whether or not installing medical apps. The finding was supported by many studies, in which young physicians were more likely to use medical apps as compared with old ones[7, 16]. In our study, male dentists were more likely to use medical apps than female. Because male is more interested in internet technology or software in China, which could interpret the phenomenon we found.
The average number of installed medical apps was 2.62, we could find it’s relatively small. According to the data of frequency and daily use of these medical apps, only 46.5% subjects used medical apps at least once a day, and only 5.2% subjects reported they used medical apps more than 60 minutes per day. Compared with the use of Wechat or QQ in China, we could found the use of medical apps among dentists in China was not very prevalent. And compared with US and British healthcare professionals with the use rate of over 90%, our sample of dentists still showed a relatively lower medical app use[20, 21].
Most of our subjects agreed or strongly agreed that they are looking to obtain more medical apps in the future and recommend these medical apps to other peers, which could reflect their affirmation and expectation towards medical apps. Most subjects agreed or strongly agreed that medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies and supplement medical textbooks. These were in agreement with several other studies that assessed the use of medical apps among dental students or junior doctors in many other regions around the world[9-12, 22-26]. Though dentists thought medical apps could improve education among students, they reported disagreement or not sure with medical apps are superior to medical textbooks or medical apps can replace medical textbooks. And most of them agreed that there are dangers in using medical apps for patient care. As we know, the accuracy of the information in one medical app is very important. If users make their clinical decision based on the inaccurate or outdated information in medical apps, it will lead to serious consequences. Many studies have been conducted to assess the quality and accuracy (including expert involvement and medical evidence adherence) of these medical applications in the past few years[27-33]. The expert involvement rate of these applications was ranged from 9% to 67% and the adherence rate was ranged from 0 to 87%[27]. So establishing appropriate regulatory procedures is extremely urgent. We believe government health authorities (such as Food and Drug Administration in America[34], Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in England[35], Health Canada in Canada[36] and corresponding authorizes in other countries) could play a key role. In order to regulate these medical apps well, the government health authorities could draft relevant guidelines which should be followed by the application developers.
About the effect of medical apps on clinical practice, from the dentists’ opinions in China, they strongly agreed or agreed that these medical apps could allow faster access to medical information with the best score (1.90 ± 0.54). But as for the other aspects of the effect, Chinese dentists’ attitudes were less positive than similar study[16]. From the results above, we could find out current medical apps in dentistry in China did well in providing relevant medical information and received positive reviews. But on the other hands (improve clinical decision making; save time; help in making differential diagnoses; perform useful medical-related calculations; faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case, reliable sources of clinical skills, reliable sources of medical knowledge, and common laboratory reference values ), medical apps did not meet the needs of dentists well. So in the future, there will be much room for improvement.
In conclusion, the use of smartphone and some social media apps (Wechat or QQ) is very common among dentists in China. And the use of medical apps is also prevalent. These medical apps received positive reviews, because most dentists reported they would want to obtain more medical apps in the future and recommend these medical apps to other peers. These medical apps could allow faster access to medical information for dentists in their clinical practices. But there is still much room for improvement in patient care in the future (such as assisting diagnoses and determining treatment options).
Limitation
There were some limitations in our study. First, our sample size was relatively small. We need a larger sample size to confirm our findings on medical app use among dentists in China in the future. Still, our results are in agreement with many similar studies conducted in other regions around the world and provide preliminary information. Second, our study only examined dentists’ perceptions of medical apps. Further studies should be conducted to examine dental patients’ use and perceptions of medical apps in order to examine how medical apps affect their oral healthcare. Third, our study did not investigate potentially negative impacts of medical app use. Because the issue of patient safety and privacy has been proposed in these years, we should focus on it in further investigation.
Funding: This study was supported by the Program for Innovation Team Building at Institutions of Higher Education in Chongqing in 2016 (NO CXTDG201602006), Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing, China in 2018 (Grant No: cstc2018jscx-mszdX0017).
Competing interests: None of the authors have any relevant financial relationship(s) with a commercial interest.
Author's contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Chao Zhang, Lin Fan, Cong Yu and Zhaowu Chai. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Chao Zhang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval
The study was performed according to the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki, and the procedures were approved by the ethics committees of the Stomatological Hospital of the Chongqing Medical University (2019-79).
Consent to participate
The study did not involve any medical examination, surgical procedure, or collection of personal health information. Therefore, completing and returning the questionnaire was considered as provision of informed consent to participate in the study.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank colleagues in Stomatological Hospital of the Chongqing Medical University for their work in sending emails of questionnaire to our subjects.
Consent for publication
Not applicable
Author details
- College of Stomatology, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
- Chongqing Key Laboratory for Oral Diseases and Biomedical Sciences, Chongqing, China.
- Chongqing Municipal Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering of Higher Education, Chongqing, China.
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- Suner A, Yilmaz Y, Piskin B. Mobile learning in dentistry: usage habits, attitudes and perceptions of undergraduate students. PeerJ. 2019: 7:e7391.
- Payne KB, Wharrad H, Watts K. Smartphone and medical related App use among medical students and junior doctors in the United Kingdom (UK): a regional survey. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012: 12:121-131.
- Masika MM, Omondi GB, Natembeya DS et al. Use of mobile learning technology among final year medical students in Kenya. Pan Afr Med J. 2015: 21:127-138.
- Jahanshir A, Karimialavijeh E, Sheikh H et al. Smartphones and Medical Applications in the Emergency Department Daily Practice. Emerg (Tehran). 2017: 5(1):e14.
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- Grow JN, Vargo JD, Nazir N et al. Smartphone Applications in Plastic Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Survey of 577 Plastic Surgeons, Fellows, Residents, and Medical Students. Aesthet Surg J. 2019: 39(12):NP530-NP537.
- Al-Ghamdi S. Popularity and impact of using smart devices in medicine: experiences in Saudi Arabia. BMC Public Health. 2018: 18(1):531-538.
- Shaw H, Ellis DA, Kendrick LR et al. Predicting Smartphone Operating System from Personality and Individual Differences. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2016: 19(12):727-732.
- Li X, Xu ZR, Tang N et al. Effect of intervention using a messaging app on compliance and duration of treatment in orthodontic patients. Clin Oral Investig. 2016: 20(8):1849-1859.
- Hofer F, Haluza D. Are Austrian practitioners ready to use medical apps? Results of a validation study. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2019: 19(1):88-96.
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- Mark D, Leonard C, Breen H et al. Mobile phones in clinical practice: reducing the risk of bacterial contamination. Int J Clin Pract. 2014: 68(9):1060-1064.
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- Greene LR, Spuur KM. Undergraduate use of medical radiation science mobile applications. Radiography (Lond). 2018: 24(4):352-359.
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|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Age |
≤ 30 |
152 |
40.1 |
|
|
31-40 |
181 |
47.8 |
|
|
41-50 |
24 |
6.3 |
|
|
> 50 |
22 |
5.8 |
|
Gender |
Male |
139 |
36.7 |
|
|
Female |
240 |
63.3 |
|
Workplace |
Public hospital |
168 |
44.3 |
|
|
Private hospital or clinic |
211 |
55.7 |
|
Medical rank |
Resident dentist |
179 |
47.2 |
|
|
Dentist in charge |
153 |
40.4 |
|
|
Senior/associate senior dentist |
47 |
12.4 |
|
Do you own a smartphone? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
What’s the brand of your smarphone? |
Apple |
175 |
46.2 |
|
|
Huawei |
129 |
34 |
|
|
OPPO |
33 |
8.7 |
|
|
Xiaomi |
28 |
7.4 |
|
|
Sumsung |
6 |
1.6 |
|
|
Others |
8 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Have you installed Wechat or QQ on your smartphone? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
Do you use WeChat or QQ in clinical practice? |
Yes |
379 |
100 |
|
The purpose for using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice |
Communicating with patients |
294 |
77.6 |
|
|
Communicating with peers |
317 |
83.6 |
|
|
Acquiring medical information |
319 |
84.2 |
|
|
Others |
76 |
20 |
|
Frequency of using WeChat or QQ in clinical practice |
At least once a day |
279 |
73.6 |
|
|
At least once a week |
79 |
20.8 |
|
|
Less than once a month |
21 |
5.5 |
|
Daily use of WeChat or QQ in clinical practice within dentists (in minutes) |
None |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1-10 minutes |
51 |
13.5 |
|
|
11-20 minutes |
66 |
17.4 |
|
|
21-30 minutes |
72 |
19 |
|
|
31-40 minutes |
49 |
12.9 |
|
|
41-50 minutes |
24 |
6.3 |
|
|
51-60 minutes |
19 |
5.0 |
|
|
>60 minutes |
98 |
25.9 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Have you installed medical apps on your smartphone? (except Wechat and QQ) |
Yes |
288 |
76 |
|
|
No |
91 |
24 |
|
How many medical apps do you have on your smartphone? |
No |
91 |
24 |
|
|
1-5 apps |
271 |
71.5 |
|
|
6-10 apps |
15 |
4 |
|
|
>10 apps |
2 |
0.5 |
|
|
|
Whether or not dentist installed medical apps |
Total |
Chi-square test |
df |
p-value |
|
|
|
|
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
Gender |
Male |
116 |
23 |
139 |
6.702 |
1 |
0.010 |
|
|
Female |
172 |
68 |
240 |
|
|
|
|
Age |
≤ 30 |
124 |
28 |
152 |
45.303 |
3 |
0.000 |
|
|
31-40 |
144 |
37 |
181 |
|
|
|
|
|
41-50 |
16 |
8 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
|
> 50 |
4 |
18 |
22 |
|
|
|
|
Workplace |
Public hospital |
133 |
35 |
168 |
1.670 |
1 |
0.196 |
|
|
Private hospital or clinic |
155 |
56 |
211 |
|
|
|
|
Medical rank |
Resident dentist |
135 |
44 |
179 |
5.466 |
2 |
0.065 |
|
|
Dentist in charge |
123 |
30 |
153 |
|
|
|
|
|
Senior/associate senior dentist |
30 |
17 |
47 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
|
288 |
91 |
379 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Frequency |
At least once a day |
134 |
46.5 |
|
|
At least once a week |
122 |
42.4 |
|
|
Less than once a month |
32 |
11.1 |
|
Daily use |
None |
2 |
0.7 |
|
|
1-10 minutes |
84 |
29.2 |
|
|
11-20 minutes |
91 |
31.6 |
|
|
21-30 minutes |
45 |
15.6 |
|
|
31-40 minutes |
30 |
10.4 |
|
|
41-50 minutes |
16 |
5.6 |
|
|
51-60 minutes |
5 |
1.7 |
|
|
> 60 minutes |
15 |
5.2 |
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
|
Reviewing medical knowledge |
241 |
63.6 |
|
Reading medical news |
138 |
36.4 |
|
Reading medical journals |
106 |
27.9 |
|
Clinical skills guide |
105 |
27.7 |
|
Communicating with patients |
98 |
25.9 |
|
Communicating with colleages |
97 |
25.6 |
|
Preparing presentations |
87 |
22.9 |
|
Assisting diagnosis |
80 |
21.1 |
|
Exam preparation |
67 |
17.7 |
|
During ward rounds |
64 |
16.9 |
|
Medication or drug guide |
64 |
16.9 |
|
Scheduling patients’ appointment |
47 |
12.4 |
|
Mobile learning |
30 |
7.9 |
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
Mean |
SD |
|
Medical apps are easy to obtain |
Strongly agree |
56 |
19.4 |
2.36 |
0.99 |
|
Agree |
127 |
44.1 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
54 |
18.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I am looking to obtain more medical apps in the future |
Strongly agree |
160 |
55.6 |
1.52 |
0.69 |
|
Agree |
114 |
39.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
5 |
1.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I would recommend these medical apps to other peers |
Strongly agree |
122 |
42.4 |
1.67 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
148 |
51.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
10 |
3.5 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
8 |
2.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
I do most of my medical learning using medical apps |
Strongly agree |
62 |
21.5 |
2.43 |
1.17 |
|
Agree |
131 |
45.5 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
80 |
27.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps are essential tools for undergraduate medical studies |
Strongly agree |
91 |
31.6 |
1.91 |
0.78 |
|
Agree |
140 |
48.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
48 |
16.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps are superior to medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
13 |
4.5 |
3.16 |
0.81 |
|
Agree |
56 |
19.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
98 |
34 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
115 |
39.9 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps can replace medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
3.31 |
0.94 |
|
Agree |
68 |
23.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
48 |
16.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
159 |
55.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
6 |
2.1 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps supplement medical textbooks |
Strongly agree |
77 |
26.7 |
1.83 |
0.64 |
|
Agree |
193 |
67 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
9 |
3.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
8 |
2.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
1 |
0.3 |
|
|
|
|
Medical apps provide useful point-of-care medical information |
Strongly agree |
54 |
18.8 |
2.28 |
0.97 |
|
Agree |
149 |
51.7 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
34 |
11.8 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
There are dangers in using medical apps for patient care |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
2.61 |
0.73 |
|
Agree |
133 |
46.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
114 |
39.6 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
34 |
11.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
Number |
Percent (%) |
Mean |
SD |
|
Improve clinical decision-making |
Strongly agree |
30 |
10.4 |
2.30 |
0.77 |
|
Agree |
166 |
57.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
67 |
23.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
25 |
8.7 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Save time
|
Strongly agree |
41 |
14.2 |
2.11 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
185 |
64.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
51 |
17.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
11 |
3.8 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to medical information |
Strongly agree |
53 |
18.4 |
1.90 |
0.54 |
|
Agree |
214 |
74.3 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
17 |
5.9 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
4 |
1.4 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to common laboratory reference values |
Strongly agree |
16 |
5.6 |
2.30 |
0.65 |
|
Agree |
185 |
64.2 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
72 |
25 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
15 |
5.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Help in developing differential diagnoses |
Strongly agree |
7 |
2.4 |
2.56 |
0.74 |
|
Agree |
176 |
61.1 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
70 |
24.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
35 |
12.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Perform useful medical related calculations |
Strongly agree |
8 |
2.8 |
2.52 |
0.77 |
|
Agree |
163 |
56.6 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
78 |
27.1 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
38 |
13.2 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
1 |
0.3 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to reliable sources of medical knowledge |
Strongly agree |
28 |
9.7 |
2.19 |
0.68 |
|
Agree |
194 |
67.4 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
50 |
17.4 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
16 |
5.6 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to reliable sources of clinical skills |
Strongly agree |
24 |
8.3 |
2.25 |
0.67 |
|
Agree |
180 |
62.5 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
71 |
24.7 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
13 |
4.5 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
Allow faster access to evidence-based medical practice/case |
Strongly agree |
39 |
13.5 |
2.34 |
0.80 |
|
Agree |
132 |
45.8 |
|
|
|
|
Not sure |
96 |
33.3 |
|
|
|
|
Disagree |
21 |
7.3 |
|
|
|
|
Stongly disagree |
0 |
0 |
|
|