Al-Kahtani Nouf Khalid, Aljabri Duaa, Alrawiai Sumaiah, Alsubaie Shayma, Alasmari Maram, Aldukhi Zahra, Alkahtani Hend Khalid
Health Information Management and Technology, College of Public Health, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Information Systems, College of Computer and Information Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2022 Aug 29;15:1607-1619. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S349548. eCollection 2022.
Telehealth, Internet interventions, or digital apps provide healthcare to isolated regions and can span borders. The purpose of this research was to assess the use of the Seha application, public perceptions toward the application, and factors that affect its utilization.
The cross-sectional method was used to analyze the quantitative data. Grounded Theory was used to analyze the qualitative data. This study was conducted from December 1, 2018, to January 31, 2019. A total of 419 participants were surveyed online, and semi-structured interviews were conducted for 20 participants. The participants were chosen based on convenience sampling techniques. The survey contained two sections. The first section consisted of demographic data and the second section included eight questions, each covering one main aspect. For the qualitative approach, participants were chosen using a theoretical sampling technique. Researchers acted as the primary data collection instrument.
Out of the total, 88.5% of the participants did not use "Seha" application. Among users, the main perceived benefit from the application was the ability to contact a general practitioner anytime. Among non-users, the greatest barrier to use was the lack of awareness about it, while the ability to contact a general practitioner any time (25%) and reducing visits to the doctor (23%) were the top motivations. A conceptual framework was developed to define the different aspects affecting the use of the online medical consultation application. These aspects included awareness and education, technical issues, access, and consultation information.
Public awareness and education about the application, as well as the integration of its functions with other healthcare systems were the main recommendations suggested. Implementing these recommendations is encouraged to deliver value to e-health initiatives in Saudi Arabia.
远程医疗、互联网干预或数字应用程序可为偏远地区提供医疗服务，且不受国界限制。本研究旨在评估Seha应用程序的使用情况、公众对该应用程序的看法以及影响其使用的因素。
采用横断面方法分析定量数据，运用扎根理论分析定性数据。本研究于2018年12月1日至2019年1月31日进行。共对419名参与者进行了在线调查，并对20名参与者进行了半结构化访谈。参与者是基于便利抽样技术选取的。调查包括两个部分。第一部分包括人口统计学数据，第二部分包括八个问题，每个问题涵盖一个主要方面。对于定性研究方法，采用理论抽样技术选取参与者。研究人员作为主要的数据收集工具。
总体而言，88.5%的参与者未使用“Seha”应用程序。在使用者中，该应用程序的主要感知益处是能够随时联系全科医生。在非使用者中，使用的最大障碍是缺乏了解，而随时联系全科医生的能力（25%）和减少看医生的次数（23%）是最主要的使用动机。构建了一个概念框架来定义影响在线医疗咨询应用程序使用的不同方面。这些方面包括认知与教育、技术问题、访问权限和咨询信息。
主要建议包括提高公众对该应用程序的认知和教育，以及将其功能与其他医疗系统整合。鼓励实施这些建议，为沙特阿拉伯的电子健康倡议带来价值。
