The Use of Social Media among Saudi Ophthalmologists: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Omar Al Abbasi; Abdulaziz Al Taisan; Bader S Alqahtani; Khalid Alburayk; Saad H Alenezi; Adi Mohammed Al Owaifeer

doi:10.4103/meajo.meajo_125_21

The Use of Social Media among Saudi Ophthalmologists: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Middle East Afr J Ophthalmol. 2021 Dec 31;28(3):159-163. doi: 10.4103/meajo.meajo_125_21. eCollection 2021 Jul-Sep.

Authors

Omar Al Abbasi^{1

2}, Abdulaziz Al Taisan³, Bader S Alqahtani⁴, Khalid Alburayk⁵, Saad H Alenezi⁶, Adi Mohammed Al Owaifeer^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia.
² King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Surgery, Ophthalmology Unit, College of Medicine, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Surgery, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of and beliefs toward social media (SM) among Saudi ophthalmologists.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A web-based, self-administered questionnaire was e-mailed to ophthalmologists within Saudi Arabia.

Results: Out of 392 recipients, 293 completed the survey (74.7% response rate). The vast majority (90.1%) used at least one platform for personal and professional purposes or either. The three most commonly used applications were Twitter (72.3%), Snapchat (65.9%), and Instagram (51.9%). The opinions of respondents with regard to the different aspects of SM varied widely. Around half (56.7%) believed that it was permissible for ophthalmologists to promote themselves on SM and 70.6% agreed that SM usage by health-care professionals should be regulated. Participants believe that SM had both a positive and a negative impact on their daily life and clinical practice. For example, 94 (32.1%) respondents stated that it improved their ability to educate patients, on the other hand, 80 (27.3%) reported that SM wastes quality time that can be spent on something more productive.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate an increased utilization of SM among Saudi ophthalmologists. The ethical aspects of SM usage were a matter of controversy among our respondents. This necessitates the establishment of guidelines by regulatory bodies and/or individual health-care organizations.

Keywords: Ophthalmology; Saudi Arabia; social media.

MeSH terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Health Personnel
Humans
Ophthalmologists*
Saudi Arabia
Social Media*
Surveys and Questionnaires