Smart-phone and medical app use amongst Irish medical students: a survey of use and attitudes

Impact of smartphone on mental health among medical undergraduates: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Smartphones have become an indispensable part of almost everyone's life. India has now become the leading and second-largest Smartphone market in the world. It has been noted that the purpose of Smartphone usage has exceptionally changed over the past few years, especially among students, professionals, and the common man. Smartphones have now become essential and the need of the hour, and medical students are no exception. Smartphones can make "smart students smarter"! There are now 10,275 unique applications labeled under the "Medical" and "Healthcare and Fitness" categories. The common medical applications used are MedCalc, Drug Infusion, Flashcards, Encyclopedia, Merck Manual, Medscape, PubMed, Epocrates, MedlinePlus, Lab test applications, Medical Dictionary, Eponyms etc. Despite the advantages and needs of smartphones, they have proven to be a source of potential hazard to human health, not only physical but also mental, social, and emotional well-being. There is consistent evidence for co-morbidity (such as obesity, heart diseases, neck and back pain, etc.) between excessive smartphone use and other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) similar to internet addiction. The significant association of this addiction with poorer sleep quality and higher perceived stress has been a cause for concern. Hence, further investigation to explore the association between smartphone addiction and mental health, this study was undertaken.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Our study was undertaken in Dr VMGMC, Solapur, from June to August 2022, after obtaining approval from the ethical committee, approval number 172/22. Total voluntary participation for the study was 600 (from first to final year), and accordingly convenient sample size was taken.

RESULTS

We found that out of the total participants, 42% of the participants had an average screen time of 4-6 h daily. A very small percentage of participants (4%) spent less than two hours in front of a screen. Alarmingly, 65% of the participants had an average screen time of more than 4 hours, which puts them at risk for the negative health impacts of prolonged screen time. Around 12% of them had symptoms of mild stress, 10.3% for mild anxiety, and 15.6% for mild depression. 10.6% had symptoms of moderate stress, 23.3% for moderate anxiety, and 16% for moderate depression. A small proportion of undergraduates, that is, 5%, 16%, and 11.6%, had symptoms of severe and extremely severe stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The study participants did not feel a lot of stress, anxiety, or depression symptoms when smartphones were used judiciously and mostly for non-social purposes (such as studying, listening to music, or watching videos). This investigation led us to the conclusion that there are some positive effects of smartphones on mental health. However, those who spent an excessive amount of time on their smartphones for social contact, with an average screen time of 5 h, showed signs of mild to moderate sadness, moderate anxiety, and tension, demonstrating that social media had a negative impact on the mental health of medical undergraduates. Therefore, efforts should be made to inform medical students about how using a smartphone is harming their mental health.

Appraising the use of smartphones and apps when conducting qualitative medical education research: AMEE Guide No. 130

Smartphone use is rampant in everyday life and is increasing in: patient management, teaching and learning of medicine and health research. There is untapped potential to use smartphones as research tools in MER for a range of research approaches. Qualitative research is increasingly common in medical education research (MER). Smartphone use as a research tool has not been well explored in MER and this Guide will be useful to researchers considering integrating smartphones specifically in qualitative MER. First, we discuss the potential for smartphones in qualitative MER. Then, we discuss the opportunities and drawbacks for using smartphones in qualitative MER. We then provide three principles to consider when conducting smartphone MER: communication, ethics and reflection. Next we share ten lessons that emerged from the literature and our experiences. We end by looking to the future of smartphones in qualitative MER and hope this Guide provides evidence-based information to optimise smartphone use in qualitative MER. This Guide is important as there is an urgent need to redefine ethical boundaries to account for blurred lines between personal and professional use of smartphones.

WhatsApp messenger as a tool to supplement medical education for medical students on clinical attachment

BACKGROUND

Instant messaging applications have the potential to improve and facilitate communication between hospital doctors and students, hence generating and improving learning opportunities. This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of instant messaging communication to supplement medical education for medical students whilst on clinical attachment.

METHODS

A total of 6 WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp Inc.) groups were created for medical students on clinical attachment. These were used to provide communication within Problem Based Learning (PBL) groups for a duration of 8 weeks. The frequency and type of communication were recorded. Students' opinions were evaluated through a structured interview process at the end of the study period. A thematic analysis was performed on the content of the instant messaging groups and on the results of the structured interviews.

RESULTS

All of the participants were active in their respective messaging groups (19 students and 6 tutors). A total of 582 messages, 22 images and 19 webpage links were sent. Thematic analysis on content of the instant messaging groups identified the following themes: organisational, educational and social. Thematic analysis on the content of interviews identified themes such as the ease of use of instant messaging, benefit of instant messaging to foster understanding and learning, and the ability to access recorded discussions.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study illustrate a method by which communication within PBL groups can be facilitated by the use of instant messaging. The results indicate the feasibility and acceptability of WhatsApp Messenger in supplementing PBL teaching for medical students, and provides a framework for studies to investigate use amongst larger cohorts of students.