Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein.
S Afr Fam Pract (2004). 2020 Feb 4;62(1):e1-e7. doi: 10.4102/safp.v62i1.5029.
There has been a rapid rise in the use of smart devices amongst medical practitioners throughout the world. This study aimed to identify how smart devices were being used by medical practitioners at the Universitas Academic Hospital (UAH), Bloemfontein, and the associated factors thereof. We also identified the views of medical practitioners regarding the usage of smart devices at their workplace.
A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to medical practitioners working at UAH during weekly departmental meetings or monthly morbidity and mortality meetings. The following largest departments were included: Surgery, Anaesthetics, Paediatrics, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
The response rate was 82.7% of those attending the meetings. All the respondents owned a smart device and brought it to their workplace. The most common applications used on these smart devices were that for drug references (65.9%), medical textbooks (63.6%) and medical calculators (58.1%). Significantly larger percentages of doctors aged 21-39 years compared with those aged 40-65 years used drug reference applications and medical calculators. A quarter (24.8%) of respondents communicated with patients through a smart device, 21.7% used an online storage platform to backup patient data, whilst 56.6% used their devices to store and view patient information. More than one-third (36.7%) agreed that smart devices threatened patient confidentiality, but the majority (58.8%) did not agree that these devices hinder patient communication. The majority felt that these devices improved both personal performance (69.2%) and patient care (79.0%).
Smart devices usage is common in this setting. Hence, integration of such usage in medical curricula, discussion on professionalism, ethics and confidentiality in this context, and guidance from institutions and professional bodies become necessary.
在全球范围内，医生使用智能设备的情况迅速增加。本研究旨在确定布隆方丹大学学术医院（UAH）的医生如何使用智能设备，以及与之相关的因素。我们还了解了医生对在工作场所使用智能设备的看法。
进行了一项前瞻性的横断面研究。在 UAH 的每周部门会议或每月发病率和死亡率会议期间，向医生分发匿名问卷。包括以下最大的科室：外科、麻醉科、儿科、内科、家庭医学科和妇产科。
参加会议的医生中有 82.7%的人做出了回应。所有受访者都拥有智能设备并将其带到工作场所。这些智能设备上最常用的应用程序是药物参考应用程序（65.9%）、医学教科书（63.6%）和医学计算器（58.1%）。与 40-65 岁的医生相比，21-39 岁的医生使用药物参考应用程序和医学计算器的比例明显更高。有四分之一（24.8%）的受访者通过智能设备与患者进行沟通，21.7%的人使用在线存储平台备份患者数据，而 56.6%的人使用设备存储和查看患者信息。超过三分之一（36.7%）的人认为智能设备威胁到患者的保密性，但大多数（58.8%）人不同意这些设备阻碍了医患沟通。大多数人认为这些设备提高了个人绩效（69.2%）和患者护理（79.0%）。
在这种环境下，智能设备的使用很普遍。因此，有必要将这种使用方式融入医学课程中，讨论在这种情况下的专业精神、道德和保密性问题，并由机构和专业团体提供指导。
