Use of smartphones among medical students in the clinical years at a medical school in Sub-Sahara Africa: A pilot study

Abstract

Background: Smartphones help in quick access to medical information, enhance student learning in clinical environment and increase their knowledge score. We conducted a pilot study of medical students in the clinical years to assess their current utilization of mobile phones, the perceived advantages and barriers.Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 5 th and 6 th year medical students using a pre-tested questionnaire was conducted. Information gathered were bio-data, type of mobile phone owned, usage pattern in terms of frequency and applications, perceived advantages and barriers. Data was analysed employing SPSS version 15.Results: All the 123 participants owned smartphones and the greatest use among majority (!63%) was for routine functions such as receiving or making calls, sending or receiving SMS and e-mails, as schedule/calendar/planner and as dictionary. Less frequent usage (41% to 59%) was to access and take lecture notes, access medical videos, electronic textbook and for medical research. They were rarely used (B32%) as clinical tools in patient management, for course evaluation and as log book. Battery life, small size screen, slow speed, limited memory and cost were the major barriers to mobile learning while the greatest advantages were mobility of the device, ease of use, access to current information and ease of access to resources.Conclusions: Our medical students appeared comfortable with the use of smartphones for routine personal applications, searching academic resources as well as accessing and taking lecture notes without institutional assistance. With minimal support, they could be encouraged to use their mobile phones for greater education activities and accessing clinical materials.

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“…This is in concurrence with another similar study where 58% were males and 42% were females. 21 All the participants in this study owned mobile phones with 93.33% owning multitasking and feature rich smartphones. In another study also, all the participants owned a smartphone.…”

“…In another study also, all the participants owned a smartphone. 21 42.9% participants were advanced mobile phone users, who could utilize all the functions of the phone, besides being able to format and upgrade mobile phone fi rmware.…”

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“…The challenges of living in these rural areas include intermittent electricity and lack of safe storage for the device (Parikh, 2006). Individuals using the phones often have limited education and literacy (McCole, 2014;Parikh, 2006) and limited disposable income either to purchase the device (Banerjee & Duflo, 2006) or pay for the cost of its operation (Ibrahim, Salisu, Popoola, & Ibrahim, 2014). Maintenance is also a challenge --finding trustworthy people with the knowledge and resources for both hardware and software upkeep can be difficult in isolated areas (Jackson et al, 2011) .…”

“…Maintenance is also a challenge --finding trustworthy people with the knowledge and resources for both hardware and software upkeep can be difficult in isolated areas (Jackson et al, 2011) . Poor connectivity or limited internet access can limit usability and create different outcomes than anticipated (Chang et al, 2012;Ibrahim et al, 2014). Lack of skills, created by insufficient training or support are also barriers to effective use (Ibrahim et al, 2014;Lu, Sears, & Jacko, 2005;Masters & Al-Rawahi, 2012).…”

“…Poor connectivity or limited internet access can limit usability and create different outcomes than anticipated (Chang et al, 2012;Ibrahim et al, 2014). Lack of skills, created by insufficient training or support are also barriers to effective use (Ibrahim et al, 2014;Lu, Sears, & Jacko, 2005;Masters & Al-Rawahi, 2012). Physical aspects of the hardware, including short battery life and small screen size, can limit uses beyond simple tasks (Ibrahim et al, 2014;Masters & Al-Rawahi, 2012).…”