Abstract
BackgroundSmartphones and related applications are increasingly gaining relevance in the healthcare domain. We previously assessed the demands and preferences of medical students towards an application accompanying them during a course on general practice. The current study aims to elucidate the factors associated with adoption of such a technology. Therefore we provided students with a prototype of an application specifically related to their studies in general practice.MethodsA total estimation among students participating in a general practice examination at the Leipzig Medical School was conducted in May 2014. Students were asked to answer a structured self-designed questionnaire. Univariable comparisons were made to identify significant differences between those students who reported to have used the application frequently and those who did not. Multivariable binary logistic regression was used to reveal independent predictors of frequent application usage.ResultsThe response rate was 99.3 % (n = 305/307). The majority (59 %, n = 180/305) were female students. The mean age was 24.5 years and 79.9 % (n = 243/304) owned a smartphone or tablet computer. Regarding the usage of the provided application, 2.3 % (n = 7/303) did not use the app while 68.0 % (n = 206/303) replied to have used it more than five times. Frequent users significantly differed from non-frequent users with regard to being female rather than male, higher mobile device ownership, more frequent exchange about obtaining the course certificate, higher personal interest in new technologies, larger enjoyment of the technology, lower intention to not use smartphone applications in the future, better opinion towards smartphone applications for the profession of a doctor, higher perceived importance of medical applications on the job, higher compatibility of smartphone applications with personal work style, higher perceived relevance of university support and personal benefit of use. Multivariable analysis revealed a set of four variables independently predicting frequent usage: being female, a higher perceived benefit of the supplied application, a higher personal interest in new technologies, and a higher perceived impact of previous experiences on smartphone adoption (Pseudo-R2Nagelkerke = 0.245).ConclusionsUnderstanding medical students’ adoption of smartphone applications used for educational purposes may provide useful information to guide the implementation process as well as the design of respective applications.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-015-0377-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Smartphones and related applications are increasingly gaining relevance in the healthcare domain
We found no differences in mobile device ownership between males and females (82.4 % (n = 103/125) vs. 78.2 % (n = 140/179); p = 0.370)
Main findings Our study demonstrates that a majority of the surveyed medical students adopted a smartphone application for medical education
Summary
Smartphones and related applications are increasingly gaining relevance in the healthcare domain. A recent study concluded that while only few e-learning apps exist, they could provide an ideal platform as most of the users are wearing a smartphone on them at all time [11] This mobility of learning enabled by smartphones explains why students evaluated an app containing medical guideline as a modern way to familiarize oneself with the content, as waiting periods could be effectively utilized [12]. The possibility to immediately access information aids the consolidation of knowledge through repetition and makes mobile devices a valuable addition to traditional learning resources [10] This is supported by 71.4 % of recently interviewed psychiatry students mentioning that a related app would be a good addition to a textbook [13]. First initiatives were launched by educators [15,16,17] and significant effects on students’ examination performances were reported [16]
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