ABSTRACT
Mobile health (mHealth) has emerged as a substantial segment of eHealth. Herein, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate mHealth app barriers, usability, and personalization in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. We used a Google survey to recruit participants from both countries between the 15th of September and the 15th of October 2022. Among 299 participants (247 from Egypt and 52 from Saudi Arabia), aged ≥ 18 years, 27.4% reported mHealth app use. In the age-, sex-, and country-adjusted regression models, age > 25 years: OR (95% CI) = 1.98 (1.11, 3.54), residing in Saudi Arabia: OR (95% CI) = 4.33 (2.22, 8.48), and physical activity: OR (95% CI) = 2.53 (1.44, 4.44) were associated with mHealth app use. The main mHealth app purposes were lifestyle promotion (35.4%), diet and nutrition (30.5%), and administrative services (13.4%). On a scale from 20 to 100, mHealth app usability scores were 46.3% (20−40), 7.3% (41−60), 31.7% (61−80), and 14.7% (81−100). According to 93.9% of users, mHealth app features were modifiable to meet personal health goals, while 37% stated that mHealth apps helped them set new personal health goals. In conclusion, age, residing in Saudi Arabia (compared to Egypt), and physical activity were positively associated with mHealth app use. mHealth app feature personalization and helping users set new personal health goals were largely reported, suggesting that mHealth has the potential to help put personalized healthcare into practice.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has represented a challenge to medical practice in Saudi Arabia and worldwide. In contrary to the increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients, there was a limitation in the capacity of medical practices and access to healthcare. A growing body of evidence from healthcare settings in Saudi Arabia and worldwide has suggested a possible role for telemedicine in responding to this evolving need. Telemedicine can be used for triage, direct care, follow-up, and consultation. It could be delivered through synchronous, asynchronous, and mixed approaches. While telemedicine has several advantages, such as accessibility and cost-effectiveness, its diagnostic reliability should be further investigated. The Saudi Vision (2030) has drawn up a roadmap to invest in digital healthcare during the coming decade; however, some barriers related to using telemedicine in Saudi healthcare settings, including cultural issues and technical difficulties, should be openly discussed. In addition, before putting telemedicine in practice on a wide scale in Saudi Arabia, more efforts should be carried out to issue updated legislation and regulations, discuss and respond to ethical concerns, and ensure data security.