A Study on Perception of Managing Diabetes Mellitus through Social Networking in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has the seventh highest prevalence of diabetes in the world with estimates of 20% of the populations diagnosed with diabetes. Furthermore, there is a lack of good educational and management programs of diabetes in the kingdom. In parallel to this major health problem, there is an increasing trend of smart mobile phone usage and access to social networking in the Kingdom, especially in the younger population. In this paper, we conducted a preliminary study on the perception of managing diabetes mellitus through mobile technologies and social networking in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A mixed method design with interviews and a survey were used to gather data. Most of the participants were younger users aged between (10-30 years). The key outcomes of this study indicate the high percentage acceptance of using smart phone technologies and social networking within the participation.