ArticleThe European journal of general practice2025
Recommendations of digital health applications to patients by Portuguese General Practitioners: a cross-sectional study.
Article in The European journal of general practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Use of mHealth Apps by General and Family Medicine Physicians in Portugal: Observational Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe growing adoption of digital health applications (apps) presents new opportunities for General Practitioners (GPs) to enhance care and empower patients. However, little is known about how Portuguese GPs incorporate these apps into their practice.
objectivesTo identify the distinguishing characteristics of Portuguese GPs recommending the use of digital health apps to patients, and to investigate the facilitators and barriers influencing this behaviour.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed to Portuguese GPs between July 2023 and January 2024. Univariate logistic regressions identified predictors of app recommendation. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests compared facilitators and barriers between groups.
resultsA total of 126 GPs responded (72.2% women; median age 36 years [IQR: 31.8-43.0]); 45.2% recommended digital health apps. The most common were for apps for physical activity (32.4%), nutrition (21.3%), and chronic disease management (21.3%). Among GPs recommending apps, 70.2% did 1-4 times monthly. Most GPs believed that apps could improve chronic disease self-management (97.6%) and reduce face-to-face consultations (74.6%). GPs recommending apps were more likely to personally use health and fitness apps (OR 3.03), clinical decision apps (OR 3.79), and to believe that apps reduce face-to-face consultations (OR 3.46). GPs not recommending apps more often rated scientific validity as 'very important' (84.1% vs 61.4%,
conclusionNearly half of Portuguese GPs surveyed recommended digital apps, highlighting their potential to support self-management and reduce face-to-face consultation. Broader adoption may depend on fostering greater physician confidence in app use by strengthening the scientific evidence of apps.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.