Journal of Blood Medicine (Oct 2021)
Usage and Acceptability of the Wateen Application Among the Population of Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Noot AlOtaibi,1 Sarah Alsaleebi,2 Fahad Alanezi,3 Hala Alhodaib,4 Bashair AlThani,5 Duaa Aljabri,1 Demah Alsalman,1 Asma Al-Fayez,1 Amjad Saadah,1 Sumaiah Alrawiai,1 Norah Alyousif,6 Turki Alanzi1 1Department of Health Information Management and Technology, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 2Blood Bank, King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 3Community College, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Community Health Sciences, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyad, Saudi Arabia; 5College of Business Administration, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia; 6Information Technology Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Turki AlanziDepartment of Health Information Management and Technology, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, King Faisal Road, Dammam, 31441, Saudi ArabiaTel +966 133331211Email [email protected]: The main objective of this research was to investigate the opinion of the population of Saudi Arabia on the use and acceptability of the Wateen application.Methods: This research was a quantitative cross-sectional study in which an online questionnaire was distributed among the target population who were healthy people over 18 years of age that had used or known about the Wateen application. A total of 352 participants responded to the questionnaire. The data collection was carried out between November and December 2020. A basic descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyze the data.Results: The participants had used the Wateen app to follow the donation record, as a reminder of donation dates, to find lists and blood bank locations, to request blood donation, and to find donation requests on social media. After receiving the blood donation request from the Wateen app, majority of the respondents felt encouraged, motivated, and educated to donate blood, and about blood donation, respectively. Participants also indicated that the application helped them to find donors. Besides, majority of the respondents stated that the Wateen app had reduced the gap between blood donors and the need for blood. However, few participants expressed that they had not received or observed a post about the Wateen application on social media networks.Conclusion: The results of this research indicated that there is a general acceptance of the use of the Wateen app among the participants of this study. However, the importance of the Wateen app needs to be further advertised so that it can be used in the blood donation process in all regions of Saudi Arabia. In this way, the people of Saudi Arabia will be more aware of the importance of the Wateen app in the blood donation process, and the goal of the Ministry of Health of bridging the gap between donation centers and blood donors could be achieved.Keywords: Wateen application, blood donation, m-health, Saudi Arabia, user acceptability
