Fig 1.
Geographic distribution of respondents across the MENA region.
Map showing the percentage of participants from each country, illustrating the relative contribution of each national sample to the overall study population. Base map data source: Natural Earth (public domain; https://www.naturalearthdata.com). Generated in R (v4.4) using the rnaturalearth and sf packages.
Table 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics of study participants (n = 990).
Fig 2.
Distribution of prevalent digital health technologies used in healthcare/research reported by participants across MENA countries.
Bar chart illustrates the percentage of respondents reporting adoption of various digital health tools. Multiple responses were allowed. EHRs dominated adoption, while VR and robotics showed the lowest levels of uptake, reflecting uneven maturity of different technologies in the region.
Fig 3.
Perspectives on digital health technologies.
Two panels show participant ratings on a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from very negative to very positive). (A) Overall perception of the advantages and barriers (mean 3.5 ± 0.8). (B) Perception of ethical framework application and suggested solutions (mean 3.5 ± 0.8). Percentages of responses are displayed, highlighting both supportive and critical views.
Table 2.
Attitudes towards digital health technologies (n = 990).
Table 3.
Ethical considerations in digital health technologies (n = 990).
Fig 4.
Key measures for the ethical use of digital tools in clinical research (n = 990).
Bar chart illustrates the proportion of participants who identified ethical priorities for digital health adoption. While informed consent—historically a major concern—was still noted, participants may view it as relatively well established. In contrast, the strongest emphasis was placed on the need for regular monitoring and oversight by regulatory bodies, highlighting a shift toward systemic governance as the most urgent and practical requirement still lacking in many settings.