The effect of smartphones and mobile apps in Egyptian Emergency Departments: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background

The prevalence of mobile devices in healthcare environments has steeply increased the creation of medical software applications, or apps, for these platforms. It can enhance the provided healthcare services.

Aim

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of smartphone use among health care professionals (HCPs) in Egypt and detect the possible benefits and challenges identified by HCPs in the emergency department associated with the use of smartphones and mobile apps.

Methods

A cross-sectional 23-question structured survey-based study was conducted and distributed electronically via GoogleForms. The survey targeted all healthcare professionals working in emergency departments in Egypt either from University hospitals or the Ministry of Health.

Results

Among 130 responders, almost 89 % were physicians, while the rest were nurses. In addition, 53.1 % had one to four years of experience. Our study revealed that 62.3 % of the responders used medical apps daily with 61.5 % using smartphones during their work shifts. Though, about 81.5 % demonstrated limited or no availability of necessary technology infrastructure in ED. Furthermore, peer-reviewed evidence use was detected among 80 % of the responders using Google and other search engines for health-related information, and about 23 % of them used WikiEM and Wikipedia. Nevertheless, Medscape, MedCalc, and Up-to-date were among the most used medical apps with 69.2 %, 44.6 %, and 33.1 % respectively. Most of the responders were confident that smartphones could improve patient safety. In addition, satisfaction with current mobile apps was detected by more than 60 %, and most of the HCPs agreed that smartphones and mobile apps are crucial for future emergency healthcare delivery.

Conclusion

The use of smartphone apps in Egyptian ED is critical and is widespread among health providers; however, proper training on peer-reviewed resources can serve in improving medical health services.