title: The Use of Mobile Phone and Medical Apps among General Practitioners in Hangzhou City, Eastern China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mobile phones and mobile phone apps have expanded new forms of health professionals' work. There are many studies on the use of mobile phone apps for different specialists. However, there are no studies on the current use of mobile phone apps among general practitioners (GPs).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to investigate the extent to which GPs own smartphones with apps and use them to aid their clinical activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire survey of GPs was undertaken in Hangzhou, Eastern China. Data probing GPs' current use of medical apps in their clinical activities and factors influencing app use were collected and analyzed
  
  
  RESULTS
  125 GPs participated in the survey. 90.4% of GPs owned a mobile phone, with 48.7% owning an iPhone and 47.8% owning an Android phone. Most mobile phone owners had 1-3 medical-related apps, with very few owning more than 4. There was no difference in number of apps between iPhone and Android owners (χ(2)=1.388, P=0.846). 36% of GPs reported using medical-related apps on a daily basis. The majority of doctors reported using apps to aid clinical activities less than 30 minutes per day.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high level of mobile phone ownership and usage among GPs was found in this study, but few people chose medical-related apps to support their clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: General Practice Department, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2408-3712
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Wen
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0096-3782
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Yan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7996-4109
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Juanjuan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0444-2036
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Pei
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6758-0607
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8732-1875
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
keywords: app use; general practitioner; mobile phone; mobile technology