Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38438883›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2024

Usage and attitude of medical students towards mobile medical applications during and after COVID-19 lockdown: repeated cross-sectional study.

Marwa Ahmed Alsharif, Ammar Ayman Bahbah, Mohamed Mabrouk Ghonaim, Janna Ahmed Omran, Maram Mohamed Rihan, Mariam Ahmed Zayed, Mariam Salah Tabour, Mariam Hamed Alwardany, Omar Ali Aboshady

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Article in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

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4citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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  3. Enhancing Acute Reconstructive Skills in Burn Surgery Through Virtual Simulation.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2025
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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Marwa Ahmed AlsharifFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Ammar Ayman BahbahFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Mohamed Mabrouk GhonaimFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Janna Ahmed OmranFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Maram Mohamed RihanFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Mariam Ahmed ZayedFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Mariam Salah TabourFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Mariam Hamed AlwardanyFaculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Omar Ali AboshadyClinical Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt. omr.ali@med.menofia.edu.eg.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCOVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift toward e-learning, particularly in medical education. Mobile medical applications (apps) have become integral tools for e-learning due to the prevalence of smartphones among medical students. Therefore, we aim to assess the usage and attitude of undergraduate Egyptian medical students towards mobile medical apps during and after the COVID-19 lockdown.

methodsThis is a two-phase repeated cross-sectional study using an online, pilot-tested, and self-administered survey conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Egypt. Phase 1 was during the academic year 2019-2020 (during lockdown), and phase 2 was during the academic year 2021-2022 (after lockdown). Out of the 4800-target population for each phase, a sample size of 140 medical students was randomly selected from each study year, resulting in a total sample size of 840 students for all six academic and clinical years for each phase.

resultsA total of 566 students in phase 1 and 616 students in phase 2 responded to the survey, with response rates of 67.62% and 73.33%, respectively. In phase 1, 55.7% of students reported using medical apps, with no significant difference between males and females (60.1% vs. 53.8%; p = 0.17) or between academic and clinical years (56.3% vs. 54.7%; p = 0.7). In phase 2, the percentage increased to 70.9%, with a significant difference between males and females (80% vs. 62.9%; p < 0.001) and between academic and clinical years (79.8% vs. 63%; p < 0.001). Medical dictionaries were the most commonly used apps, whereas medical calculators were the least common in both phases. Regarding their attitude, most students (65.1% and 73.9% in phases 1 and 2, respectively) expressed confidence in using medical apps, while 81.3% in phase 1 and 88.1% in phase 2 agreed that using medical apps is a flexible method of learning. Lack of knowledge regarding which app to download was the most reported cause of limitation in medical app usage by 37.8% of the students in phase 1 and 40% in phase 2.

conclusionOur study revealed that the COVID-19 lockdown led to a significant increase in the use of mobile medical apps among Egyptian medical students. Despite the positive attitude of students towards these apps, multiple challenges still need to be addressed to ensure their optimal utilization in medical education.

Indexed as

COVID-19Mobile ApplicationsStudents, MedicalCommunicable Disease ControlCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLearningMalePandemicsCOVID-19’ lockdownMedical applicationsMedical educationMedical studentsMobile apps

Identifiers

PMID38438883
PMCPMC10913541

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