Security barriers and facilitators in the use of mobile health applications from the perspective of paramedical students at Mashhad university of medical sciences: a descriptive cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Mobile health (mHealth) applications are recognized as effective tools for health management and improving the quality of healthcare services.However, concerns about data security and privacy remain significant barriers to their widespread adoption.This study aimed to identify security barriers and facilitators influencing the use of mHealth applications from the perspective of paramedical students.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2023 on 115 paramedical students at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.Participants were selected through proportional stratified sampling.Data were collected using a structured questionnaire developed by Zhou et al., which was translated, back-translated, and validated in Persian (r = 0.92).The questionnaire included both Likert-scale items and open-ended questions.Descriptive statistics were used for analyzing quantitative data, while thematic analysis was employed to evaluate qualitative responses.Results: Key security concerns included unauthorized data access and weak privacy policies, which were identified as major barriers to mHealth adoption.In contrast, remote data deletion, transparent security policies, and access controls were recognized as the main facilitators.Thematic analysis of qualitative responses revealed three main themes: security concerns, practical challenges, and suggested strategies for improving security and building trust in mHealth applications. Conclusion:The study highlights the need for mHealth application designs to emphasize enhanced data security, transparent privacy policies, and user-friendly interfaces to boost user trust and promote adoption.These insights can inform developers and policymakers to optimize mHealth application design and implementation.