Quality of internet access: barrier behind internet use statistics
Quality of internet access: barrier behind internet use statistics
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00455-0
复制
发表时间：
2003-09-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Poland, B
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Skinner, H;Biscope, S;Poland, B
互联网的迅速发展越来越具有国际性，在大多数国家，年轻人是最早的使用者。然而，互联网接入的质量是隐藏在互联网使用统计数据背后的一个主要障碍。这项研究的目的是深入评价青年人对利用因特网获取保健信息和资源（电子保健）的看法。使用归纳定性研究设计，27个焦点小组进行了安大略，加拿大。选择210名年轻参与者是为了反映年龄、性别、地理位置、文化认同和风险的多样性。一项主要的调查结果是，互联网接入的质量如何影响年轻人获得保健信息和资源的能力。互联网接入质量受四个关键因素的影响：1。隐私，2.守门，3。时间和4。功能.隐私对于这些年轻人获取敏感的健康信息（例如性活动）特别重要。获得服务质量的差异也影响到参与互助、促进社交网络和回答具体的健康问题。这些结果是对仅使用互联网渗透率统计数据作为访问量的警告。需要共同关注提高互联网接入质量，以发挥电子医疗的潜力。这对于解决影响各国国内和全球各国之间人口的数字鸿沟至关重要。(C)2003爱思唯尔科技有限公司版权所有。
The rapid growth of the Internet is increasingly international with young people being the early adopters in most countries. However, the quality of Internet access looms as a major barrier hidden behind Internet use statistics. The goal of this study was to provide an in-depth evaluation of young people's perspectives on using the Internet to obtain health information and resources (e-health). Using an inductive qualitative research design, 27 focus groups were conducted in Ontario, Canada. The 210 young participants were selected to reflect diversity in age, sex, geographic location, cultural identity and risk. A major finding was how the quality of Internet access influenced young people's ability to obtain health information and resources. Quality of Internet access was affected by four key factors: 1. Privacy, 2. Gate-keeping, 3. Timeliness and 4. Functionality. Privacy was particularly relevant to these young people in getting access to sensitive health information (e.g. sexual activities). Variations in access quality also impacted participation in mutual support, fostering social networks and getting specific health questions answered. These results serve as a warning about using Internet penetration statistics alone as a measure of access. Concerted attention is needed on improving the quality of Internet access for achieving the potential of e-health. This is imperative for addressing the digital divide affecting populations both within countries and globally between countries. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.