The role of walking-tracking apps and chronic medical conditions for adult students’ quality of life: A cross-sectional study from Saudi Arabia

Q1 Medicine

Informatics in Medicine Unlocked Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.imu.2024.101610

Manal Almalki

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered health behaviors, particularly among adult students in Saudi Arabia. The increased use of walking-tracking apps and the challenges faced by individuals with chronic medical conditions have influenced overall quality of life (QOL).

Objective

To assess the influence of having a medical condition and the use of walking-tracking apps on QOL among adult students in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

An online questionnaire was utilized in June 2024 to measure QOL using the WHOQOL-BREF scale, which covers physical health, psychological well-being, social relationships, and environmental health. Participants were grouped based on their use of walking-tracking apps and the presence of a chronic medical condition. Statistical analysis included independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, and chi-square tests to determine significant associations (p < 0.05).

Results

The sample consisted of 412 participants. The chi-square test revealed a significant association between having a medical condition and using a walking-tracking app (p = 0.037), with individuals without medical conditions being more likely to use these apps. However, despite the high prevalence of app usage (65.3 %), no significant improvements in QOL were observed for app users across any of the QOL domains. Participants with medical conditions reported significantly higher QOL scores in all domains, particularly in psychological health (p < 0.001) and social relationships (p = 0.001). Positive correlations were observed for factors like meaningful life, concentration, and access to healthcare among those with medical conditions.

Conclusion

Students with chronic medical conditions reported higher QOL whereas the use of walking-tracking apps had limited direct impact on their QOL. Future studies should explore factors that play a critical role in enhancing QOL beyond physical health and technology usage, including social support and the Saudi healthcare system.

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步行跟踪应用程序和慢性医疗条件对成年学生生活质量的作用：来自沙特阿拉伯的横断面研究

2019冠状病毒病大流行显著改变了健康行为，尤其是在沙特阿拉伯的成年学生中。越来越多的人使用步行跟踪应用程序，慢性病患者面临的挑战已经影响了整体生活质量（QOL）。目的评估沙特阿拉伯成年学生的健康状况和步行跟踪应用程序的使用对生活质量的影响。方法于2024年6月采用WHOQOL-BREF在线问卷对生活质量进行测量，问卷内容包括身体健康、心理健康、社会关系和环境健康。参与者根据他们使用步行跟踪应用程序和是否患有慢性疾病进行分组。统计分析包括独立t检验、Pearson相关性和卡方检验，以确定显著相关性(p <；0.05)。结果样本共412人。卡方检验显示，身体状况与使用步行追踪应用程序之间存在显著关联（p = 0.037），没有身体状况的人更有可能使用这些应用程序。然而，尽管应用程序使用率很高（65.3%），但应用程序用户的生活质量在任何生活质量领域都没有显著改善。有医疗状况的参与者在所有领域的生活质量得分都显着提高，特别是在心理健康方面(p <；0.001)和社会关系（p = 0.001）。在有疾病的人中，观察到有意义的生活、注意力集中和获得医疗保健等因素的正相关。结论患有慢性疾病的学生的生活质量较高，而使用步行跟踪应用程序对其生活质量的直接影响有限。未来的研究应该探索除了身体健康和技术使用之外，在提高生活质量方面发挥关键作用的因素，包括社会支持和沙特医疗保健系统。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Informatics in Medicine Unlocked Medicine-Health Informatics

CiteScore

9.50

自引率

0.00%

发文量

282

审稿时长

39 days

期刊介绍： Informatics in Medicine Unlocked (IMU) is an international gold open access journal covering a broad spectrum of topics within medical informatics, including (but not limited to) papers focusing on imaging, pathology, teledermatology, public health, ophthalmological, nursing and translational medicine informatics. The full papers that are published in the journal are accessible to all who visit the website.