Smartphone apps commonly used by doctors working in Orthopaedic surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg: Are they pee-reviewd?
Date
2019
Authors
Singh, Dr Virsen
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Abstract
Background: As the popularity of smartphones soar throughout the world, their
usefulness within the workplace, and particularly the healthcare sector, has
increased dramatically. Unfortunately, not all healthcare-related smartphone apps
can be trusted in terms of the accuracy of their content. Just as articles in journals
undergo a peer-review process to determine their accuracy, the medical world has
begun to peer-review the contents of medical apps. In this study, we aim to
determine the most commonly used orthopaedic smartphone apps in our population
group as well as find out if the content of these apps has been peer-reviewed.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted in the Department of Orthopaedic
Surgery at the University of the Witwatersrand, to determine the most commonly
used healthcare-related apps. We then analysed the content of these apps, to see if
it was peer-reviewed.
Results: Of the 87 doctors surveyed (22 consultants; 49 registrars and 10 medical
officers), 81 used their smartphones in their medical practice. The majority of
doctors used apps which fell into the “reference” category, which allowed them to
quickly access information regarding diagnosis, treatment and surgical approaches.
Only seven doctors (8%) had checked to see if the apps they were using had been
peer-reviewed. Twelve doctors (14%) felt that it was not important to peer-review
these apps, while the majority (68 doctors, 78%) felt that it was important, but had
not specifically checked.
Discussion: Regarding the content of the apps, only eight of the thirteen apps
included in the survey (62%) had been peer-reviewed by an expert in the field of
orthopaedic surgery. The other five apps (38%) had never been reviewed in terms
of their content. Some of the apps did not even have a medical expert on their
development team.
Conclusion: Our recommendation is that apps intended for use by clinicians should
all undergo a peer-review process before being made available for download.
Furthermore, these apps should provide a concise summary of the development
process in the app description, which the user can peruse before downloading and
using the app. Lastly, we believe that the onus lies with the clinician to ensure the
accuracy of the content of these apps before using them in the healthcare setting.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the
Witwatersrand, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Medicine
Johannesburg, 2019