Contribution of the smartphone in medical practice

Abstract

Purpose to determine the place of the smartphone by evaluating the possession and the use of medical applications in the practice of the professionals at the Mohamed VI University Hospital of Marrakech and hospital “Moulay Youssef Rabat” This is a prospective descriptive and mono-centric analytical study on health professionals working or performing their training at hospital structures during the 6 months of the study using a smartphone. Our study took place over a period of 6 months, from August 1, 2018 to January 31, 2019, is carried out on two sites. Within the Moulay Youssef Hospital Rabat CHR, Hospital mother and child Mohamed VI Hospital Marrakech hospital. A clear predominance of female 131 (65%) , with a sex ratio F / H of 0.51.with an average age of 34.4 years, with extreme ages between 60 and 18 years. We found that 149 (74.5%) were hospital professionals, 86 (43%) were medical students, 191 (95.57%) used French as their main language. - 142 (71%) use a smartphone and 125 (62.5%) use it in the medical prescription. Of the 200 professionals, 81% were convinced of the benefit of using Smartphones. The overflow of professional boundaries was highlighted as a disadvantage by 47% of the professionals.130 (65%) want more APPS communications and more than 50% were willing to pay between 50 and 200 MAD for medical APPS. In our study There is a statistically significant linear correlation between the age and the number of smartphone users during these 6 months (p = 0.023).There is a statistically significant linear correlation between professional status and number of smartphone uses during these 6months (p <0.001). Our study joins the data of the literature with an average of the number of use during these 6 months which is not statistically different according to the sex (p = 0.27). There is a statistically significant linear correlation between the average number of smartphone uses for medical purposes and the number of Smartphone usage during these 6 months (p <0.001). In our study, the average number of uses during these 6months is statistically different depending on the professionals we judge that it is beneficial (p = <0.01). The smartphone is a real tool in the practice of health professionals for optimal care of the patient. It would be interesting to develop formal assessment strategies and training in these medical applications for use with confidence in our context.