Smartphone use by government dermatology practitioners in Kuwait: a self-reported questionnaire based cross-sectional study

Autor: Hashem Shehab, Ali Jasem Buabbas, Adel Al-Abdulrazaq, Prem Sharma
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Adult
Male
medicine.medical_specialty
020205 medical informatics
Cross-sectional study
Population
Health Informatics
Medical information
Dermatology practice
02 engineering and technology
Dermatology
lcsh:Computer applications to medicine. Medical informatics
Health informatics
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
0202 electrical engineering
electronic engineering
information engineering
medicine
Photography
Humans
Dermatologist perspectives
030212 general & internal medicine
education
Smartphone technology
Point of care
education.field_of_study
Government
business.industry
Health Policy
Middle Aged
Internet search engines
Computer Science Applications
Cross-Sectional Studies
Kuwait
lcsh:R858-859.7
Female
Self Report
Smartphone
Clinical photography
business
Psychology
Self reported questionnaire
Procedures and Techniques Utilization
Research Article
Zdroj: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, Vol 19, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2019)
ISSN: 1472-6947
Popis: Background The potential for smartphones to revolutionize the way that medical doctors practice has become a reality, particularly in specialities where visual examination is a principal step in assessing a medical case, like dermatology. Smartphones as devices hold similar capabilities to personal computers and laptops and could play an important role in supporting medical practitioners in clinical practice at the point of care and beyond. This study aimed to assess the role of smartphone technology use in dermatology practice in Kuwait, together with the potential of digital photography and users’ concerns. Methods This cross-sectional survey involved a population of dermatology practitioners of all levels working in 11 dermatology centers distributed across six health regions in Kuwait. A validated self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants about their smartphone use. Quantitative analytical methods were undertaken to analyse the questionnaire responses. Results A total of 210 dermatologists were approached in their workplaces. Of these, 101 (48%) responded to the survey questionnaire, with a mean age of 39.1 years (±10.7 SD) and equal representation from both genders. All the respondents were using smartphone technology, wherein 94.1% used it to access medical information through various Internet search engines. The most prevalent applications used were medical and drug reference applications (69.3 and 66.3%, respectively). In all, 65% of the dermatologists were using smartphones to take clinical photographs of patients for special purposes, and this type of usage was significantly higher (p
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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