Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P. O. Box 24923, 13110, Safat, Kuwait.
Biostatistics, Dasman Diabetes Institute, P. O. Box 1180, 25462, Dasman, Kuwait.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2019 Aug 5;19(1):155. doi: 10.1186/s12911-019-0883-z.
The potential for smartphones to revolutionize the way that medical doctors practice has become a reality, particularly in specialities where visual examination is a principal step in assessing a medical case, like dermatology. Smartphones as devices hold similar capabilities to personal computers and laptops and could play an important role in supporting medical practitioners in clinical practice at the point of care and beyond. This study aimed to assess the role of smartphone technology use in dermatology practice in Kuwait, together with the potential of digital photography and users' concerns.
This cross-sectional survey involved a population of dermatology practitioners of all levels working in 11 dermatology centers distributed across six health regions in Kuwait. A validated self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants about their smartphone use. Quantitative analytical methods were undertaken to analyse the questionnaire responses.
A total of 210 dermatologists were approached in their workplaces. Of these, 101 (48%) responded to the survey questionnaire, with a mean age of 39.1 years (±10.7 SD) and equal representation from both genders. All the respondents were using smartphone technology, wherein 94.1% used it to access medical information through various Internet search engines. The most prevalent applications used were medical and drug reference applications (69.3 and 66.3%, respectively). In all, 65% of the dermatologists were using smartphones to take clinical photographs of patients for special purposes, and this type of usage was significantly higher (p < 0.05) among females and those older than 40.
This study concludes that smartphone technology has an impactful role in dermatology practice, and many of its functions can be employed to achieve better practice and better patient care. Recommendations are suggested for clinicians using smartphones in dermatology practice.
智能手机有可能彻底改变医生行医的方式，这在视觉检查是评估医疗病例的主要步骤的专业领域尤其如此，如皮肤科。智能手机作为设备具有与个人计算机和笔记本电脑相似的功能，并且可以在支持医疗从业者在临床实践中的作用中发挥重要作用。本研究旨在评估智能手机技术在科威特皮肤科实践中的作用，以及数字摄影的潜力和用户关注的问题。
这项横断面调查涉及在科威特六个卫生区分布的 11 个皮肤科中心工作的各级皮肤科医生。使用经过验证的自我报告问卷从参与者那里收集有关他们智能手机使用情况的数据。采用定量分析方法对问卷回答进行分析。
共在工作场所接触了 210 名皮肤科医生。其中，101 名（48%）对调查问卷做出了回应，平均年龄为 39.1 岁（±10.7 标准差），性别比例相等。所有受访者都在使用智能手机技术，其中 94.1%通过各种互联网搜索引擎访问医疗信息。使用最普遍的应用程序是医学和药物参考应用程序（分别为 69.3%和 66.3%）。在所有情况下，65%的皮肤科医生都使用智能手机为特殊目的拍摄患者的临床照片，这种类型的使用在女性和 40 岁以上的人群中明显更高（p<0.05）。
本研究得出结论，智能手机技术在皮肤科实践中具有重要作用，其许多功能可用于实现更好的实践和更好的患者护理。为在皮肤科实践中使用智能手机的临床医生提出了建议。
