The prevalence and usage of mobile health applications among mental health patients in Saudi Arabia
Introduction
Mobile phone applications have gained interest from a number of industries ranging from finance, education, to healthcare. Within healthcare specifically, mobile phone applications currently cater to mental health patients and offer them a variety of applictions related to monitoring, assessment, education, and treatment [1].
As the prevalence of mental illnesses, such as depression and anxiety, continue to develop, clinicians have turned to portable and mobile applications as tools to aid in the treatment of patients. Mobile phone applications have indicated that they can be useful as an approach in involving patients who may be unwilling or unable to attend face-to-face therapy. Experts have found that these mobile health applications work best when used in combination with medication and with in-person therapy [2]. In Saudi Arabia, little research has been conducted on understanding the prevalence and use of mobile health devices by mental health patients. Conducting this research is important since the prevalence of mental health illness can reach as high as 48% in certain populations [1], [3]. Mobile health applications can provide an oppurtunity for Saudi mental health patients to obtain access to mobile health services that can help in the treatment or monitoring of mental health illnesses.
The objective of this study is to determine the prevalence of mobile health application use among Saudi mental health patients. We anticipate that the results of this study will help guide and support Saudi mental health facilities in dealing with the issues impacting the prevalence and use of mobile health applications by Saudi patients. The results of this work may assist in the development of mobile phone applications for Saudi mental health patients, which could be of help in improving patient access and care through mental health services.
Section snippets
Literature background
Mental health is a major factor in influencing the personal life satisfaction of an individual. Recently, the psychological well-being of individuals in Saudi Arabia has received increasing consideration from experts and scientists [4]. Two studies conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reported a prevalence of mental health issues in the population ranging from 39% to 46% in 2014 [4], [5]. Only 33% of those patients were identified by Primary Healthcare Centers (PHC). Another study conducted in
Method
The study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional descriptive design to provide an overview and assessment of the prevalence and usage of mobile health (mHealth) applications for mental health patients in Saudi Arabia. A survey was distributed online using Twitter accounts related to depression, stress and anxiety in Saudi society, as well as online support groups and Facebook pages relevant to subject of the study.
The survey included adult patients (>18 years old) living with current mental
Results
A total of 526 participants completed the survey. Of that total, 72% (n = 376) reported suffering from anxiety and depression. The majority were females at 68.9% and 31% were males.
Younger study participants were more likely to use various mobile applications. Approximatly 43% (n = 160) of respondents were aged between 18–30 years. Approximately, 37% reported their age between 31 and 45 years, 12% were aged between 46–60 years and only 0.8% were aged above 60 years (see Figs. 2 and 3). A
Discussion
The research results show that Saudi mental health patients are in constant use of mobile phone applications. Approximately 92% of the participants reported using specialized applications to do different activities on a daily basis including personal health control and monitoring. The results also show that 29% of the participants reported little concern regarding risk to personal information when using the application to monitor, control or record a personal health event. Overall, participants
Implications
Application of the results of this survey will aid in the management and treatment of patients at the level of primary care who are suffering from depression or anxiety in Saudi Arabia. Using interactive mobile applications for patients with depression and anxiety may unlock improved benefits to patients and providers. Recording real life events is an effective tool in overcoming memory issues and retrospective methods on collecting and analyzing events of depression and anxiety. However, the
Limitations
There is a threat of selection bias in this study because of the use of a convenience sample of social media respondents. Since the data is self-reported, reporting bias and recall bias cannot be avoided. The generalizability of the study may be affected due to the introduction of such biases.
However, we expect that this research will provide interested organizations, researchers and healthcare professionals with baseline information for future studies. This work will also help researchers in
Conclusion
The study concludes that a significant number of mental health patients are already using or intend to use smartphones and various apps including mental health applications. We anticipate that the results of this study will provide evidence of the need for mental health mobile applications to be developed in Saudi Arabia. In addition, the results of this study will aid in the promotion of using mobile health technologies to improve healthcare services provided to mental health patients in Saudi
Conflict of interest
Authors: Nora Atallah, Ashraf El Metwally and Mowafa Househ, from the Department of Health Informatics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Mohamed Khalifa from Centre for Health Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, all confirm that they have completely no financial or
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