Abstract
BackgroundThere is anecdotal evidence that physiotherapy clinicians increasingly are using medical apps and health-related apps as part of their clinical practice, and in some cases, even ‘prescribing apps’ to patients. However, there is limited information on how South African physiotherapists use, and what they think about, the integration of mobile apps in their practice.ObjectivesThis study aimed to describe the use of smartphone apps as part of clinical practice in a small group of South African physiotherapists.MethodThis study made use of a cross-sectional, descriptive design and a self-administered questionnaire to survey practitioners. The population included all 1300 physiotherapists who were registered with the Orthopaedic Manipulative Physiotherapists Group (OMPTG) of the special interest group of the South African Society of Physiotherapists (SASP), with a sample of 270 out of 1300 who responded (response rate = 21%). Descriptive data are presented using graphs, figures and percentages, and responses to open-ended questions are included in support of the themes.ResultsThe majority of the participants used apps as part of their practice (60%) but did not prescribe apps to patients. Most apps are used for administrative and communication purposes. Even clinicians who used apps themselves expressed concerns about prescribing them to patients, and there were clear misconceptions about the use of apps.ConclusionMany clinicians in this study reported that there were real benefits to the use of smartphone apps as part of their practice. However, they raised concerns about the more general prescription of apps for clients.Clinical implicationsFurther research, education and collaboration amongst all stakeholders is necessary to produce guidelines for the use of apps in clinical practice
Highlights
There is anecdotal evidence that physiotherapy clinicians increasingly are using medical apps and health-related apps as part of their clinical practice, and in some cases, even ‘prescribing apps’ to patients
While this study does not attempt to analyse all possible apps in all clinical contexts, it serves as an initial description of an emerging field of clinical practice
While we acknowledge that the low response rate and the relatively small sample size for the study make it impossible to generalise our findings to a larger population, we believe that this study provides a baseline understanding of app use and concerns about practice amongst a small group of South African physiotherapists
Summary
There is anecdotal evidence that physiotherapy clinicians increasingly are using medical apps and health-related apps as part of their clinical practice, and in some cases, even ‘prescribing apps’ to patients. Twenty per cent of American smartphone users report having downloaded a health-related app, the most popular of which are used to monitor exercise, diet and weight (Lupton 2014) Following this trend, the medical literature refers to the practice of ‘prescribing apps’ to patients who use these apps to monitor their activity and use the resulting data to change their behaviours with the aim of reducing the risks associated with their conditions (Brustein 2012). Mobile apps are expected to play an increasingly important role in health care, where patients gather personal data that can be used – either by themselves, or in conjunction with health care providers – to help them make informed choices about their health. These data can be shared with health care providers and funders to support decision-making at higher levels in the health system (Aitken 2013)
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