A sample size of three hundred-fifty-eight participants was collected. A total of 358 health professionals completed the online Google Forms survey. The results are illustrated in Tables 1-4 in which socio-demographic data, awareness of social media usages, and the impacts of social media usage on healthcare services are obtainable, consecutively. Besides, Figures 1-3 show the awareness of social media usage of the health professionals at Debre Tabor Referral Hospital.
Table 1: Socio-Demographic and Work-Related Characteristics of Participants (n=358)
Age group
20-24 10 (2.8)
25-34 216 (60.3)
35-44 102 (28.5)
45-54 14 (3.9)
55-64 12 (3.4)
Gender
Male 200 (55.9)
Marital status
Married 233 (65.1)
Unmarried 109 (30.4)
Divorced 9 (2.5)
Educational level
Diploma 81 (22.6)
Bachelor 238 (66.5)
Master 2 (0.6)
Job title
Physician 37 (10.3)
Nurse 155 (43.3)
Allied Health Personnel 135 (37.7)
Pharmacist 30 (8.4)
Work experience (in years)
1-5 25 (7.0)
6-10 193 (53.9)
11-15 84 (23.5)
16-20 39 (10.9)
As disclosed in Table 1, 55.9% of the respondents were males, and a majority of (91.6%) the total sample size of the participants were aged between 20-44 years. Besides, more than half (66.5%) of the respondents had a bachelor degree, and the highest number of participants were nurses with response rate of 43.3%. In relation to conjugal status, 65.1% of the participants were engaged, yet 30.4% of them were not engaged.
Table 2: Healthcare providers’ awareness on social media usage (n=358)
Willing to use social media
Yes 349 (97.5)
Start using social networking sites (in years)
>5 243 (67.9)
1-5 104 (29.1)
<1 8 (2.2)
Daily usages
Up to 1 hour 7 (2.0)
Up to 2 hours 33 (9.2)
Up to 3 hours 82 (22.9)
As it is shown, Table 2 is about health professionals’ awareness on social media usage. A great majority, 97.5%, of the respondents were engrossed in using social media in their personal lives and workplace. 90.2% of the respondents replied that Facebook was the most widely visited and utilized social media networking site.
Table 3: The positive impacts of social media usage on health professionals’ healthcare services (n=358)
Positive impacts of social media Degree of agreement, n (%)
________________________________________________________
Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disgree Strongly disagree
Good tool for medication clarification. 118 (33.0) 230 (64.2) 10 (2.8) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Good tool for professional development. 40 (11.2) 313 (87.4) 5 (1.4) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
At help for client relationships. 141 (39.4) 213 (59.4) 2 (0.6) 1 (0.3) 1 (0.3)
Good tool for socializing with colleagues. 219 (61.2) 138 (38.5) 1 (0.3) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Good tool for healthcare news. 68 (19.0) 287 (80.2) 3 (0.8) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Used as a source of reference. 144 (40.2) 211 (58.9) 2 (0.6) 1 (0.3) 0 (0.0)
Helps for updates from medical conferences. 157 (43.9) 197 (55.0) 4 (1.1) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Table 4: The negative impacts of social media usage on health professionals’ healthcare services (n=358)
Negative impacts of social media Degree of agreement, n (%)
________________________________________________________
Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disgree Strongly disagree
Venomous the quality of health information. 30 (8.4) 101 (28.2) 71 (19.8) 57 (15.9) 99 (27.7)
Rupture patient privacy. 77 (21.5) 100 (27.9) 40 (11.2) 66 (18.4) 75 (21.0)
Damage my professional image. 55 (15.4) 184 (51.4) 23 (6.4) 49 (13.7) 47 (13.1)
As it can be revealed in Table 3, we can detect that more than half of the respondents, 63.4%, agreed that social media use had an affirmative impact on health professionals’ healthcare services. On the other hand, Table 4 is about the deleterious impacts of social media use on healthcare services so that 15.1% of the participants strongly agreed that using social media negatively affected healthcare services which were given by healthcare professionals’ at Debre Tabor Referral Hospital.
The interviewees said that smartphone (mobile) was the utmost device used by them. And they tried to perform the online activities such as listening to music, watch online video, play games, visit social networks and others via smartphone, computer, laptop and tablet.