UTILIZATION OF MOBILE APP-BASED PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CLINICAL GUIDELINE AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN CENTRAL GONDAR HEALTH CENTERS, NORTH WEST ETHIOPIA, 2022.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: mHealth applications are software that can enable users to search for information about specific diseases, manage diseases, and track their health. Delivering effective primary healthcare services in developing countries is challenging due to the lack of trained health professionals and the use of outdated and inconsistent clinical guidelines. Objective: This study aims to assess the utilization of mobile app-based primary Health care clinical guidelines and associated factors among Health Professionals in central Gondar Health Centers, North West Ethiopia, 2022 METHODS: An institution-based mixed method study design was conducted from May 19 to June 21, 2022, at health centers in central Gondar. A simple random sampling technique was used to select participants for the quantitative part. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Data entry and analysis were done using Epidata version.4.6 and Stata version.14 respectively. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed and P<0.05 with a 95% CI, was considered to measure statistically significant variables. Participants in the qualitative study were chosen purposively, and Open Code v.4.2 was used for the thematic analysis. Results A total of 403 participants were approached yielding a response rate of 93%. Of these, 28% Conclusion: Utilization of mobile app-based primary health care clinical guidelines by healthcare professionals was low. Knowledge, attitude, previous use m-health app, and perceived ease of use were found to be significantly associated with the utilization of the app. Therefore, providing training for health professionals, as well as monitoring and supervision would be improve the utilizations. Keywords: utilization, mobile app-based clinical guidelines, Ethiopia