Exploring digital divides: An examination of eHealth technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management in the USA
Exploring digital divides: An examination of eHealth technology use in health information seeking, communication and personal health information management in the USA
复制标题
DOI：
10.1177/1460458211414843
复制
发表时间：
2011-09-01
影响因子：
3
通讯作者：
Hinnant, Charles C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lustria, Mia Liza A.;Smith, Scott Alan;Hinnant, Charles C.
最近政府在美国部署卫生信息技术的举措，加上越来越多的学术证据将在线卫生信息与积极的健康相关行为联系起来，表明人们普遍认为获取卫生信息和卫生信息技术有助于减少卫生保健不平等。然而，目前尚不清楚的是，更多地获得在线卫生信息和卫生信息技术的好处是否公平地分配给各人口群体，特别是那些得不到充分服务的人。为了研究这一问题，本文采用2007年健康信息全国趋势调查（HINTS）来调查各种社会经济变量与基于网络的健康信息搜索、个人健康信息管理和医患沟通技术的使用之间的关系。这项研究揭示了技术采用的有趣模式，其中一些与以前的研究一致，而另一些则不太清楚。这些模式是否表明，由于互联网接入和计算机拥有量差距的缩小，不同人群使用电子卫生技术的差距正在缩小，这一早期证据值得进一步探索。调查结果特别强调，有必要探讨医疗服务不足和处境不利群体在使用电子卫生工具方面的差异。在这样做的过程中，重要的是探索其他社会心理变量，如健康素养，这可能是健康消费者采用电子健康技术的更好预测因素。
Recent government initiatives to deploy health information technology in the USA, coupled with a growing body of scholarly evidence linking online heath information and positive health-related behaviors, indicate a widespread belief that access to health information and health information technologies can help reduce healthcare inequalities. However, it is less clear whether the benefits of greater access to online health information and health information technologies is equitably distributed across population groups, particularly to those who are underserved. To examine this issue, this article employs the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to investigate relationships between a variety of socio-economic variables and the use of the web-based technologies for health information seeking, personal health information management and patient-provider communication within the context of the USA. This study reveals interesting patterns in technology adoption, some of which are in line with previous studies, while others are less clear. Whether these patterns indicate early evidence of a narrowing divide in eHealth technology use across population groups as a result of the narrowing divide in Internet access and computer ownership warrants further exploration. In particular, the findings emphasize the need to explore differences in the use of eHealth tools by medically underserved and disadvantaged groups. In so doing, it will be important to explore other psychosocial variables, such as health literacy, that may be better predictors of health consumers' eHealth technology adoption.