Patients' Perceptions of Applying Information and Communication Technology Tools in Self-care and Factors Affecting It.

Abstract

Introduction:In recent years patient self-care has emerged as an important component of disease management programs. The ICT tools facilitate the self-care process with improved access to information resources, effective communication between patients and healthcare professionals, and social support services.Aim:The purpose of this study was identifying the perception of patients from the application of information communication technology in self-care in educational centers of Urmia University of Medical Sciences.Material and Methods:This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2018. The studied population consisted 540 hospitalized patients from educational hospitals affiliated to Urmia university of medical sciences. For data collection, a self-designed questionnaire was developed which valid and reliable instrument to be measured. The statistical analysis of data was done using the SPSS Software.Results:more patients’ interest to use of ICT tools in case of social media (34%), computer-based (25%) and the most common applications ICT tools included patient education (34%) and searching health information (23%). The most factors effective in the usage of ICT tools by patients were related to ease of using ICT tools (4.82), ICT tools reliability (4.73) and design ICT tools based on patient needs and preferences (4.68) respectively.Conclusion:The ICT tools are critical to patient self- care. To encourage more ICT adoption, patients should be made aware of the benefits of ICT and active involvement in the process of technology development. It seems necessary; ICT tools should be designed user-friendly, easy to use, reliable and usable.