Survey of Smartphone Use among Anaesthetists In Saolta University Health Care Group Midlands Setting.

Background: The use of smartphones in health care settings has become widespread. Although there are several benefits of smartphone usage for anaesthetists, there is a potential for negative effects on their performance and hence on patients' care.
Objectives: To investigate the ownership and patterns of anaesthetists' usage of smartphones and to identify the concerns and opinions about the potentially harmful effects of their use.
Methods: We emailed an online survey to all anaesthetists working in the Saolta university healthcare group.
Results: A high proportion of anaesthetists owned 1-5 medical-related applications (61.1%). Drug and medical references was the most commonly used category of applications.
Discussion: There is an increasing number of useful medical-related apps with a potential for improving performance and new developments. The low level of awareness to smartphone use policies indicates the need for increasing awareness and developing guidelines that encourage the safe use of smartphones.