Informatics in Medicine Unlocked (Jan 2021)
Students’ perception towards using M-Health applications for education in medical colleges of Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University
Abstract
Background: The use of m-health applications contributes to the learning process of medical students. However, no study has been conducted on this topic in Saudi Arabia. Purpose: The objective of this study was to investigate the use of m-health applications in the medical colleges of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia, and to assess the impact of their use on the grade point average of medical students. Method: ology: This research was a randomized quantitative cross-sectional study conducted using a paper-based questionnaire that was distributed to 3646 students from the Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University Medical Colleges. 390 students completed and returned the questionnaire. The real problem to solve in this research was how medical students can increase their grade point averages. The statistical analysis was carried out using the Chi-square test. Results: The majority of the participants used smartphones (92.8%) and medical applications (80.5%). The results suggested that m-health applications positively influenced the educational process of students. The findings indicated that the participants who used m-health applications tend to get higher grade point averages (χ 2 = 26.612, p-value < 0.05). The participants used m-health applications more frequently for educational and learning purposes. The following applications were significantly associated with the grade point averages: the clinical score systems/medical calculator application (χ 2 = 27.298, p-value < 0.05), the procedure documentation application (χ 2 = 10.520, p-value < 0.05), and the communication application (χ 2 = 17.725, p-value < 0.05). Also, there was an association between the student's medical specialty and the use of the medical applications (χ 2 = 25,212, p-value <0.05). Conclusion: The results indicated that a high proportion of medical students at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University Medical Schools used smartphones and medical applications during the learning process. The students who used medical applications more frequently obtained higher grade point averages. The increased grade point average associated with the use of medical applications suggested that these applications contributed to learning, knowledge acquisition, and academic performance. This outcome indicates that it is convenient to incorporate the use of m-health applications in the curricula of all medical schools of Saudi Arabian universities.
