The effect of a computer-generated patient-held medical record summary and/or a written personal health record on patients' attitudes, knowledge and behaviour concerning health promotion.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a computer-generated patient-held medical record summary (CHR) and/or a written personal health record (PHR) on patients' attitudes, knowledge and behaviour concerning health promotion. It was conducted in five general practices in Oxfordshire. Patients aged 25-65 years in each practice were randomly assigned to receive either a CHR plus PHR, CHR only, PHR only, or no personal record. Patients were recruited by mail (one practice) or opportunistically by nurses (four practices). Health checks were carried out using the randomly assigned record, which the patient retained. Attitudes to patient-held records, and pre- and post-intervention knowledge and behaviour concerning health promotion, were assessed using questionnaires. Only those who responded to 'before' and 'after' questionnaires were included in the analysis. A sample of 261 patients was obtained from mail recruitment and 103 from opportunistic nurse recruitment. Patients receiving a CHR as part of mail recruitment were significantly more likely to attend for a health check (P = 0.016). Those receiving both PHR and CHR were more likely to keep (P = 0.014) and use (P = 0.029) the record. Those receiving PHR as part of the package improved their knowledge of health promotion and became more aware of and more likely to change their life-style (P = 0.022). The effectiveness of a computer-generated patient-held health summary and an explanatory booklet together is greater than either separately in changing patients' knowledge attitudes and behaviour concerning health promotion.