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In Saudi Arabia, several mitigating measures were implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the creation of COVID-19 mobile applications (apps) for public use. The Saudi government has made the use of these apps mandatory for its citizens and residents. However, it is essential to explore the perception that common users have rega...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... permits users to find, book, cancel, and reschedule research health center and hospital appointments [55]. Figure 1 shows the logos of the tested apps as they appear in the Apple Store. ...
Citations
... Thematic analysis was chosen to analyze the qualitative results [47]. Specifically, MAXQDA analytics software was used [48,49], which was found helpful in other studies in the same field [50,51]. ...
Digital communities have gained increasing popularity in the past decade. However, they have put users at security risks, especially when they neglect to pay attention to the privacy statement and privacy settings. Therefore, digital community platforms must provide clear privacy statements and usable privacy settings. This research aims to evaluate the usability of privacy on WhatsApp and Telegram from the perspective of young Saudis. A total of 51 young Saudis participated in remote usability testing, followed by questionnaires and interviews. The results showed some privacy concerns in the two apps. Specifically, there are differences in the youths’ evaluation of the perceived privacy of the participants, with females seeing WhatsApp as more secure than the Telegram App. In the end, some recommendations for improving the privacy policy and settings for each app are discussed to ensure the safety and confidentiality of users’ information.
... As electronic health records gradually replace paper-based methods in healthcare, the manifestation of such changes needs to be assessed in Saudi Arabia. While evidence shows that Saudi Arabia has adopted electronic health records [16][17][18], the usability of such records has not been widely studied. Yet, electronic health records have been found to increase healthcare quality and patient safety by making patient medical information readily available and accessible to any authorized user. ...
... The Tawakkalna app was later introduced in 2020 as the main contact tracing app for COVID-19-related cases. Contrastingly, in a very recent study, these two apps received the least usability ratings regarding COVID-19 [16]. The respondents reported facing several barriers ranging from increased battery drain and lack of privacy to technical issues [16]. ...
... Contrastingly, in a very recent study, these two apps received the least usability ratings regarding COVID-19 [16]. The respondents reported facing several barriers ranging from increased battery drain and lack of privacy to technical issues [16]. Nevertheless, it is important to observe that the use of medical apps in Saudi Arabia is on the rise and requires slight enforcement. ...
This study aimed at assessing the extent to which the general Saudi population has embraced digital health medical applications to meet their health-related needs so that the Saudi Ministry of Health and government can appropriately be guided on scaling up digital health across the country. As such, this study was guided by the question of to what extent the Saudi people use digital health mobile-based applications. This was a cross-sectional study utilizing snowballing sampling approach. Frequencies, Chi-square, and Spearman rank correlation statistics were used to offer descriptive and inferential analysis of the variables. The majority of the participants were economically able to afford smart devices that have medical apps, had at least an app on such devices, and highly regarded the benefits of the apps. Unfortunately, their understanding of how to use such apps was limited, and this posed a barrier to embracing digital health alongside difficulty downloading apps and medical ethical concerns. Although there is a willingness, extra effort is needed from the Saudi Ministry of Health and the government to promote the uptake of digital health in Saudi Arabia.
... The data were cleaned by removing unnecessary rows and columns. The extracted data were then imported into the MAXQDA program [19,20]. Finally, developer responses were manually examined and divided into various categories and themes through content analysis. ...
... The method employs a set of codes to convert large amounts of verbal or printed material into more manageable data, from which researchers can identify themes and gain insight [44]. It summarizes and divides enormous amounts of text data into several categories that have similar meanings using a systematic categorization method of coding and detecting themes or patterns to afford information on and comprehension of the topic under investigation [19,43]. ...
... The developer responses were imported from a CSV file into the qualitative data management software MAXQDA. MAXQDA was selected because it is a powerful tool that can be used to analyze large volumes of qualitative data to extract response patterns [19]; 2. ...
Application stores (app stores) enable developers to interact with users by responding to their reviews. Many developers continuously monitor user reviews and seek to respond to them effectively and efficiently to boost user satisfaction, which in the end increases the app’s rating. Thus, it is essential to study developer responses and how to improve them. This research was aimed at evaluating developer responses to user reviews in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in the banking domain. Ten Saudi and ten United States (U.S.) bank apps were selected from each store as the sample. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were employed to code and categorize developer responses for each app using content analysis. The study found that developers’ responses can be divided into three types of interaction: interactive response, semi-interactive response, and no response. A main finding is that responses by U.S. bank app developers outperformed those by Saudi bank app developers in terms of the number and quality of responses. This research provides valuable recommendations for users, developers, and app stores to enhance user–developer interaction.
... As electronic health records gradually replace paper-based methods in healthcare, the manifestation of such changes needs to be assessed in Saudi Arabia. While evidence shows that Saudi Arabia has adopted electronic health records [16,17,18], the usability of such records has not been widely studied. Yet, electronic health records have been found to increase healthcare quality and patient safety by making patient medical information readily available and accessible to any authorized user. ...
... Tawakkalna app was later introduced in 2020 as the main contact tracing app for Covid-19-related cases. Contrastingly, in a very recent study, these two apps received the least usability ratings regarding Covid-19 [16]. The respondents reported facing several barriers ranging from increased battery drain, and lack of privacy, to technical issues [16]. ...
... Contrastingly, in a very recent study, these two apps received the least usability ratings regarding Covid-19 [16]. The respondents reported facing several barriers ranging from increased battery drain, and lack of privacy, to technical issues [16]. Nevertheless, it's important to observe that the use of medical apps in Saudi Arabia is on the rise and requires slight enforcement. ...
This study aimed at assessing the extent to which the Saudi general population has embraced digital health medical applications to meet their health-related needs so that the Saudi Ministry of Health and government can appropriately be guided on scaling up of digital health across the country. As such, this study was guided by the question of to what extent do the Saudi people use digital health mobile-based applications?. This was a cross-sectional study utilizing snowballing sampling approach. Frequencies, Chi-square, and Spearman rank correlation statistics were used to offer descriptive and inferential analysis of the variables. The majority of the participants were economically able to afford smart devices that have medical apps, had at least an app on such devices, and highly regarded the benefits of the apps. Unfortunately, their understanding of how to use such apps was limited and this posed a barrier to embracing digital health alongside difficulty downloading apps, and medical ethical concerns. Although there is a willingness, extra effort is needed from the Saudi Ministry of Health and government to promote the uptake of digital health in Saudi Arabia.
... Technology is being integrated into a variety of aspects of Saudi society in ways that were not prevalent in the past [60,[60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. As a result of the significance of HIT in the age of digitalization, a variety of stakeholders in Saudi Arabia are interested in investigating, integrating, evaluating, and implementing it. ...
EMRs play an essential role in documenting clinical information. Nurses are integral to the success of an EMR implementation, as they are the largest group of employees in a hospital and provide patient care. A major factor in the success of EMR implementation is nurses' acceptance of the system. This study is designed to measure nurses' willingness to use EMRs in clinical practice, determine factors influencing nurses' acceptance of EMR documentation in clinical practice, and gain an understanding of the nurses' perspective on EMRs to encourage the adoption and implementation of EMRs in other health facilities in Saudi Arabia. This study included nurses from Hail General Hospital, Maternity and Children Hospital, King Khalid Hospital, and Hail General Hospital. Study results indicate that perceived usefulness and ease of use are strongly correlated, resulting in nurses' greater acceptance of EMRs. According to the study results, nurses are willing to use EMRs. Our result shows that overall, nurses find the EMR useful in their jobs, with 40.9% agreeing and 24.4% strongly agreeing. Whereas the overall easiness was 9.4% agreed and 24 strongly agreed. Nurses need to be prepared for a demanding workplace through their nursing curriculum. Nursing students and professionals should understand the importance of EMRs in ensuring high-quality, effective, and efficient patient care. It is imperative that nurses continuously improve their computer skills to keep up with technological advancements.
... This is crucial because usability strongly influences the success and quality of software [8]. Therefore, to evaluate the usability issues in AI-enabled learning mobile apps, this research will utilize usability key factors such as user satisfaction, efficiency, and effectiveness, commonly considered when assessing mobile apps [9] [10]. ...
... This study aims to perform a thorough usability evaluation www.ijacsa.thesai.org of AI-enabled mobile learning apps, following ISO 9241 standards [9] [10], measuring effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. The primary objective is to identify potential usability issues affecting user satisfaction, effectiveness, and efficiency. ...
... Using these techniques, we could identify and classify specific usability issues more effectively, leading to more accurate results. Next, we calculated the count and frequency of negative reviews of each usability factor [9]. This resulted in 18,515 reviews related to satisfaction, 9,488 reviews on effectiveness, and 3,430 on efficiency. ...
Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) has become crucial in modern mobile application development. However, the current integration of AI in mobile learning applications presents several challenges regarding mobile app usability. This study aims to identify critical usability issues of AI-enabled mobile learning apps by analyzing user reviews. We conducted a qualitative and content analysis of user reviews for two groups of AI apps from the education category - language learning apps and educational support apps. Our findings reveal that while users generally report positive experiences, several AI-related usability issues impact user satisfaction, effectiveness, and efficiency. These challenges include AI-related functionality issues, performance, bias, explanation, and ineffective Features. To enhance user experience and learning outcomes, developers must improve AI technology and adapt learning methodologies to meet users’ diverse demands and preferences while addressing these issues. By overcoming these challenges, AI-powered mobile learning apps can continue to evolve and provide users with engaging and personalized learning experiences.
Introduction
While telemedicine offers significant benefits, there remain substantial knowledge gaps in the literature, particularly regarding its use in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to explore health consumers’ behavioral intention to use telemedicine examining the associated factors such as eHealth literacy and attitudes toward telemedicine services.
Methods
A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to collect data on demographics, health status, internet skills, attitudes toward telemedicine, and eHealth literacy. An online survey was administered at two large public gatherings in Riyadh. The eHEALS-Pl scale was used to measure perceived eHealth literacy levels, and data analysis was performed using SPSS (IBM Corp. United States).
Results
There were 385 participants, with an equal distribution of genders. The largest age group was 18–20 years old (57%). Nearly half of the participants were neither employed nor students, while 43% had access to governmental hospitals through employment. 71% reported proficiency in using the internet. Health-wise, 47% rated their health as excellent, and 56% did not have medical insurance. 87% expressed a high likelihood of using telemedicine if offered by a provider. Participants were categorized based on their eHealth Literacy scores, with 54% scoring low and 46% scoring high. Overall, participants showed positive attitudes toward telemedicine, with 82% agreeing that it saves time, money, and provides access to specialized care. About half of the participants perceived the process of seeing a doctor through telemedicine video as complex. Both eHealth Literacy and attitudes toward telemedicine showed a statistically significant association with the intention to use telemedicine (p < 0.001). There was a positive and significant correlation between eHealth Literacy and attitudes (ρ =0.460; p < 0.001). Multivariate ordinal regression analysis revealed that the odds for a high likelihood of intention to use telemedicine significantly increased with positive attitudes (p < 0.001). Mediation analysis confirmed the significant mediating role of attitudes toward telemedicine in the relationship between eHealth Literacy and the intention to use telemedicine.
Conclusion
The findings underline the importance of enhancing health literacy and consumer attitudes toward telemedicine, particularly during the healthcare digital transformation we are experiencing globally. This is crucial for promoting increased acceptance and utilization of telemedicine services beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Digital technologies such as mobile health (mHealth) apps with a variety of features can be essential tools for controlling pandemics. Therefore, many Arab countries have launched COVID-19 mHealth apps to reduce the spread of infection among their citizens. Recently, empirical studies have shown that user reviews include useful details to develop apps. However, Arab citizens' satisfaction with the COVID-19 mHealth apps has not been examined yet. Our study aims to provide Arabic sentiment analysis of users’ reviews to explore their satisfaction with Arabic Covid-19 apps. To achieve this goal, we have provided a benchmark dataset composed of 114,499 reviews from 18 Arabic COVID-19 Apps. Six machine learning (ML) models were tested and compared (Support Vector Machine (SVM), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Naive Bayes (NB), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN)) using a representative sample of 8220 reviews, which were annotated manually. Then, the best-performing algorithms were applied to the benchmark dataset to explore the polarity of Arab sentiment toward the apps. In a later step, we conducted a thematic analysis of both positive and negative reviews to determine which factors positively and negatively influence the effectiveness of apps. The findings show that the ANN algorithm provides the best performance with 89 % accuracy and 89 % F1. 71 % of user reviews include positive sentiments, while only 21 % include negative sentiments. Frequently crashes, update issues, and bugs were among the most prominent negative factors that affected the effectiveness of apps from the users' point of view. Finally, we presented a set of recommendations to address the negative factors and improve the effectiveness of Arabic COVID-19 apps.
