ArticleScientific reports2025
Exploring usage and perceived effectiveness of fitness trackers and mobile health applications among university students in Saudi Arabia.
Article in Scientific reports, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
The integration of technology into health and wellness has been gaining momentum. Wearable technology and mobile health applications (Apps) have become increasingly popular for tracking health-related behaviors. This study explores the usage, perceived impact, and tracking capabilities of fitness trackers (FTs) and mobile health Apps among university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over a 4-month period in 2024. A cross-sectional, web-based study was conducted in the Riyadh, region of Saudi Arabia, between March and June 2024. The target population was undergraduate healthcare students enrolled in the faculties of nursing, pharmacy, and EMS at a public university in Riyadh for the academic year 2024. The questionnaires collected information on demographics and FT usage, perceptions. The other sections focused on Mobile Health App usage, reasons for not using, the most commonly utilized feature, source of FTs. The last section assessed the impact of mobile apps and FTs on health. A total of 523 healthcare students responded to the study by giving a response rate of 95.1%. However, the analysis included on 357 undergraduate students who used FTs and mobile health apps. The prevalence of use of FTs and mobile health apps was 68.3%, among those 40.1%(n = 143) of them were belongs to pharmacy, 30.3% (n = 108) of them were EMS and 29.7% (n = 106) of them were nursing. Among the users, the most popular FT was wristband 43.7% (n = 156) smart watches 35.9% (n = 128). In addition, 52.1% (n = 186) of the healthcare students reported using mobile health Apps. Healthcare students used FTs to increase physical activity 24.4%, improving workouts 21.6%, monitoring heart rate, and losing weight. In addition, 48.1% of the healthcare students agreed that FTs increases their physical activity. This study revealed fourth-year students were more likely to wear FTs every day compared to their peers, (p = 0.022; χ² =29.223), and athletes used FTs significantly more frequently than non-athletes (p = 0.022; χ² = 11.447) suggesting significant association between year of study and student's athlete's status and FTs use. Our findings emphasize the importance of technology in promoting health and wellness, especially through the use of FTs and mobile health apps. Significantly, the use of this technology was linked to higher levels of physical activity and increased confidence, illustrating the necessity for raising awareness among students and individuals regarding the advantages of FTs and mobile health apps. Additional research is needed to investigate the reasons behind utilizing technology for health enhancement, ultimately guiding efforts to maximize its benefits.
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