Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt, 2Member at
Royal College of General Practitioners, London, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Mental Health Primary Care, Faculty of
Medicine, Nova University, Lisbon, Portugal, 4 Health Education Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud
University, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 5Medical Research Center, Kateb University, Kabul,
Afghanistan, 6 Health Education Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, The General Directorate of Clinical Health
Education Department, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 7 Department of Community, Environmental and
Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt
We aimed to determine the prevalence of MHAs’ usage and explore the context and
determinants of usingMHAs 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 usingMHAs 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.