Usage pattern of health-related smartphone applications among the medical students - A Cross-sectional study from central Karnataka, India

Abstract

Background:  The use of smart phones is widely prevalent and becoming increasingly affordable. The level of smart phone use by medical students is increasing day by day. However, studies looking at the usage of health related smart phone applications among medical students are few. Thus, our study aimed to know the usage pattern of health related smart phone applications among the medical students. Methods:  A cross sectional study was carried out from May-July 2018 among undergraduate students in JJM Medical college, Davangere. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire was used for collecting the data. The study participants were asked about use of health related smart phone applications, their satisfaction and perceived benefits after using the health related smart phone applications. Self-reported health status of the students was also collected. Descriptive statistics was used for the analysis. Results: A Total of 62 participants participated in the study and were using health related apps. Majority of the participants who were using health apps were females. The most widely used application was nutrition apps which accounted to 56.4%. About 72.4% of the study participants were spending 30minutes to 01 hour using the health related apps. 19.35% of the study participants perceived the apps to be useful and minority of them were satisfied by the information provided by the health related applications. Conclusion: Study concludes that among the study participants' majority were females and they were using nutrition related applications. Majority of the users were not satisfied with the information provided by the health related applications.