Prevalence and Determinants of Mobile Health Applications Usage: A National Descriptive Study.

We aimed to determine the prevalence of MHAs' usage and explore the context and determinants of using MHAs among inhabitants in Saudi Arabia (SA). This cross-sectional study randomly selected 679 adult inhabitants from the 20 health regions in SA through an electronic, self-administered, well-structured, and validated Arabic questionnaire. The prevalence of using MHAs was 47.9%, and it was significantly higher among younger, Saudis, highly educated, and working participants, as well as those with chronic diseases (p < 0.05). The main motives for using MHAs were to promote health status (68.6%) and to lose weight (33.2%). The most used apps were related to daily steps-counting (54.2%), and among females was tracking ovulation period apps (43.5%). The most common reported advantage of using MHAs was saving time (64%). Despite the potential benefits of MHAs, they were used by only about half of the study participants in SA. The most effective MHAs in improving health status were exercise, calorie-related, water uptake, and daily steps-counting apps. Policymakers looking to address reform aimed at improving health with mobile apps will find our study interesting.

Attitudes and intentions towards COVID-19 vaccines and associated factors among Egyptian adults.

BACKGROUND: Herd immunity through vaccination is the target of public health interventions against COVID-19, but vaccine refusal or hesitancy is one of the global threats that make achievement of community immunity very difficult. The aim of this study was to determine negative attitudes and intentions and their predictors towards COVID-19 vaccines. METHODS: This was cross sectional survey, that targeted 1011 Egyptians aged 18 years and above, from 24 governorates, during the period from 7 January 2021, to 30 March 2021. Using a convenient sampling technique, the data were collected through an online self-administered, structured questionnaire, which was composed of two main sections, that involved sociodemographic and health related factors, intentions, and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 29.35 ± 10.78 years, (16.6 %) of them had COVID-19. (54%) of respondents, reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and 21% of them reported vaccine non-acceptance while (27.1%) of participants preferred receiving Pfizer vaccine. (51.8%) of the respondents expressed strong worries about unforeseen effects of the vaccine which was associated with younger age groups, married, females, absence of history of allergy to food or drugs, perceived susceptibility to COVID 19 and never having flu vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was associated with female sex, urban residence, university/post graduate, married respondents, those never had flu vaccine, and those did not have confidence in the ability of health system to control the epidemic. Female sex, urban residence and having concerns about unforeseen effects were predictors for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine non-acceptance. CONCLUSION: The observed high level of worries about unforeseen effects of COVID-19 vaccines and widespread vaccine hesitancy amongst Egyptians and its predictors should be considered during implementation of public health intervention campaigns to change negative attitudes and improve acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Egypt.