Mobiltelefonos társállat-applikációk használata a magyarországi társállat-tulajdonosok körében

Abstract

ÖSSZEFOGLALÁS A szerzők kutatásának célja a magyar társállattartók mobiltelefonos applikáció használati szokásainak, igényeinek vizsgálta volt, különös tekintettel az állattartást, gondoskodást és állat-egészségügyi feladatok menedzselését segítő programokra. A kutatás 2023. szeptember 9. és október 16. között zajlott. A vizsgálatban 607 magyar önkéntes kérdőív kitöltő vett részt, 99%-ban kutyatartó. A felmérés eredményei azt mutatják, hogy telefonos applikációt 91,1%-uk használ a mindennapokban, míg a kedvencük körüli állatorvosi és egyéb teendőket csupán 4,1%-uk kezeli speciális applikációban. A válaszokból kiderül, hogy 96,2%-uk igényelné egy naptárfunkcióval és 91,9 %-uk tudásbázissal rendelkező program segítségét. SUMMARY Background: Advances in technology, particularly the development of mobile apps, have brought significant changes to pet care, with countless mobile phone apps available to make life with pets more colourful and convenient. Pet health management is also becoming increasingly digital, making it easier for owners to keep track and manage appointments. Objectives: The aim of the research was to investigate the mobile phone application usage habits and needs of Hungarian companion animal owners, with a special focus on applications that help them to manage their animal keeping, care and the veterinary tasks. Materials and methods: The survey used a Google Forms generated questionnaire to collect and process data anonymously. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions, including closed and semi-closed questions, and was available in the Facebook groups preferred by the pet owners. The survey was conducted between 9 September and 19 October 2023. The online questionnaire was filled by 607 pet owners. Results and discussion: Our results show that 91.9% of the respondents were women, and 54.3% of them had higher education, which may indicate that female pet owners with higher education might be the most interested in mobile applications assisting responsible animal care. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that more than half of the respondents (54.2%) were residents of the capital city. It was found that in addition to the compulsory rabies vaccination, 87.3% of respondents visit veterinary clinics several times a year for treatment. Furthermore, 74.3% of the responding pet owners use a calendar to keep track of their dog-related activities, while only 4.1% use a mobile app for this purpose, despite the fact that their vast majority (91.1%) use some kind of mobile application in their daily life. 2.9% of respondents indicated that they would not like to use an app for pet owners, but 97.1% would like an app with an alert function indicating the scheduled time of a visit to the veterinary clinic, and for preventive and ad hoc treatments that can be done at home. 91.9% of the responding pet owners answered that they would use a mobile app containing a knowledge base of veterinary issues compiled by veterinary professionals. The survey results show that the mobile pet apps are either not yet widely known or do not adequately address the needs of the pet owners in Hungary.