Anesthesia and mHealth - a Survey
Abstract Background mHealth, the practice of medicine aided by mobile devices is a growing market. Although the offer on Anesthesia applications (Apps) is quite varied, representative formal assessments on the views of anesthesia practitioners on its use and potential place in daily practice is lacking. This survey aimed thus to cross-assess the Belgian anesthesia population on the use of smartphone Apps and peripherals. Methods The survey was exclusively distributed as an online anonymous questionnaire. Sharing took place via hyperlink forwarding by the Belgian Society for Anesthesia and Reanimation (BSAR) and by the Belgian Association for Regional Anesthesia (BARA) to all registered members. The first answer took place on 5 September 2018, the last on 22 January 2019. Results 349 answers were obtained (26.9% corresponding to trainees, 73.1% to specialists). Anesthesiologists were positively confident that Apps and peripherals could help improve anesthesia care (57.0% and 47.9%, respectively, scored 4 or 5, in a scale from 0 - 5). Anesthesia trainees were significantly more confident that specialists on mobile Apps (72.1% and 51.6%, respectively). The usefulness of Apps and Peripherals was rated 1 or below (on a 0 to 5 scale) by 9.5% and 14.6% of the subjects. Trainees significantly used mobile apps more than specialists (66.7% vs. 37.4%, respectively). The preferred category of mobile Apps was dose-calculating applications (39.8%), followed by digital books (21.5%) and Apps for active perioperative monitoring (20.3%). Conclusions Belgian Anesthesia practitioners show a significant positive attitude towards smartphone Apps and Peripherals.