Evaluation of Internet, Social Networks and Social Media Usage of Assistant Physicians Using Smartphones

Abstract

Introduction One of the main factors in the widespread use of the internet all over the world is undoubtedly smartphones With smartphones, which are also widely used among healthcare professionals, instant communication programs have gained an important place in clinical practice, especially among doctors. In this study, we aimed to determine the prevalence of the internet, social networks, and social media usage among physicians using smartphones and the professional use of these platforms among physicians. Materials and Methods The questionnaire method, one of the interview techniques, was used for this descriptive and cross-sectional study. The questionnaire form used in the study was prepared by the researchers and consisted of five parts in total. (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) internet usage purposes, (3) mobile application usage purposes, (4) instant messaging applications usage purposes, and (5) social media applications usage purposes were questioned. In the analysis of the obtained data; descriptive statistics were presented with mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage values. Pearson chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables. The statistical significance level was accepted as p≤0.05. Results Doctors from forty different specialties, all research assistants (assistant doctors); A total of 203 people were included in the study. All of the participants were using smartphones. The mean age was 28.77±3.3 years. 56.2% of the participants were male. 52.7% (n=107) of the participants had a medical experience of at most 3 years. The rate of using the internet to read articles was significantly lower in those with 3 years or less of experience in the medical profession than those with 4 years or more of medical experience (p