Table 2.

Summary of the studies conducted by medical professionals.

Authors	Specialty	Aim	Methods	Results	Conclusions
Giordano et al [12]	Orthopedics	To evaluate inter- and intraobserver agreement in the initial diagnosis and classification of images from tibial plateau fractures	Plain radiographs and CTascans were obtained from 13 cases of tibial plateau fractures Images were photographed with a smartphone and sent to 6 observers via WhatsApp Messenger Observers were asked to determine standard deviation and type of injury, classification according to the Schatzker and the Luo classifications, and whether the CT scan changed the classification	Inter- and intraobserver agreement for both periods of the study ranged from excellent to perfect across all survey questions	Systematic use of the mobile app facilitated faster documentation and acquisition of the opinion of an experienced consultant when not on call
Khanna et al [16]	Orthopedics	To report the impact of the introduction of WhatsApp as an intradepartmental communication tool	25 consecutive admissions before and after the introduction of WhatsApp were included in the study 8 orthopedic residents answered 50 randomly arranged questions based on the 25 patients in each study period	Significant improvement observed in scores after introduction of WhatsApp	Introduction of WhatsApp as an intradepartmental communication tool can bring about improvements in patient-related awareness, in communication, and handovers among orthopedic residents
Vásquez-Silva et al [19]	Internal medicine	To assess the access, use, and preferences of information and communication technology by physicians who practice at a general hospital in Lima, Peru	A questionnaire explored the availability of ICTb, and physicians’ skills, time constraints, educational activities, and preferred search engines and technological applications, as well as their ICT preferences in education 211 physicians were surveyed	One in every 2 doctors use WhatsApp to exchange information and images and to perform interactive consultations within the hospital Different groups were formed according to specialty or department (cardiology, emergency, general practitioners, medical residents, etc)	Use of and access to ICT is common among doctors in this general hospital, and there is positive interest in its use in education
Cheung et al [21]	Internal medicine	To determine the effectiveness of WhatsApp and Facebook groups for preventing smoking relapses among quitters	Single-blinded, parallel, 3-arm pilot cluster randomized controlled trial allocating recent quitters, who had completed an 8-week treatment and reported abstinence for at least seven days Participants were allocated into a WhatsApp group (n=42), a Facebook group (n=40), and a control group (n=54) Two intervention groups participated in a 2-month Web-based group discussion with either WhatsApp or Facebook moderated by a trained smoking cessation counselor and received a self-help booklet on smoking cessation Control group only received the booklet	Fewer participants in the WhatsApp group reported relapse than the control group at the 2-month follow-up (ORc= 0.27, 95% CI 0.10-0.71) and 6-month follow-up (40.5%, 17/42 vs 61.1%, 33/54; OR=0.43, 95% CI 0.19-0.99); WhatsApp groups had more posts from moderator (median 60, IQRd25 vs median 32, IQR 7; P=.05) and from participants (median 35, IQR 50 vs median 6, IQR 9; P=.07) than their Facebook counterparts, but the difference was not significant	Intervention via the WhatsApp group was effective in reducing relapse probably because of enhanced discussion and social support Inactive discussion in the Facebook social group may have attributed to the lower effectiveness
Dorwal et al [22]	Pathology and Laboratory Medicine	To look at the impact of using the WhatsApp Messenger service in the laboratory management system by forming multiple groups of the various subsections of the laboratory	Thirty five members used this service for a period of 3 months, and their responses was measured on a scale of 1 to 10	Significant improvement in communication (the sharing of photographic evidence, information about accidents, critical alerts, duty rosters, academic activities, and getting directives from seniors) Some increase in the load of adding information to the application and disturbance in the routine activities, but the benefits far outweighed the minor hassles	Results suggest and reflect another communication revolution that will change the way information is shared in a health care sector, with hospital-specific apps

^aCT: computerized tomography.

^bICT: information and communication technology.

^cOR: odds ratio.

^dIQR: interquartile range.