Abstract
BackgroundeHealth presents opportunities to provide population groups with accessible health interventions, although knowledge about Internet access, peoples’ interest in using the Internet for health, and users’ characteristics are required prior to eHealth program development.ObjectiveThis study surveyed hospital patients to examine rates of Internet use, interest in using the Internet for health, and respondent characteristics related to Internet use and interest in using the Internet for health. For patients who smoke, preferences for types of smoking cessation programs for use at home and while in hospital were also examined.MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey was used to survey 819 orthopedic trauma patients (response rate: 72.61%, 819/1128) from two public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. Logistic regressions were used to examine associations between variables.ResultsA total of 72.7% (574/790) of respondents had at least weekly Internet access and more than half (56.6%, 357/631) reported interest in using the Internet for health. Odds of at least weekly Internet usage were higher if the individual was born overseas (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.27-3.82, P=.005), had a tertiary education (OR 3.75, 95% CI 2.41-5.84, P<.001), or was a nonsmoker (OR 3.75, 95% CI 2.41-5.84, P<.001). Interest in using the Internet for health increased with high school (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.09-3.15, P=.02) or tertiary education (OR 2.48, 95% CI 1.66-3.70, P<.001), and if household incomes were more than AUS $100,000 (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.25-4.97, P=.009). Older individuals were less interested in using the Internet for health (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.97-0.99, P<.001).ConclusionsOnline interventions may be a potential tool for health care in this hospitalized population.Trial RegistrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12614001147673; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366829&isReview=true (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6qg26u3En)
Highlights
Worldwide rates of Internet access are high, with more than 3.5 billion people currently connected [1]
Given there are a multitude of barriers to the delivery of face-to-face smoking cessation counseling, these results suggest online programs may be well received by patients who smoke
The main limitation of this study is that the sample was recruited from two hospitals and the results are not generalizable to other hospital population patients groups because characteristics between different medical groups differ, with orthopedic trauma patients being usually younger, risk-taking males [31]. These results suggest that access to the Internet and interest in using the Internet for health may be acceptable to some orthopedic trauma patients
Summary
Worldwide rates of Internet access are high, with more than 3.5 billion people currently connected [1]. This reach is ever increased by mobile networks, which cover more than 90% of the globe, a reach forecasted to penetrate 71% of the global population by 2019 [2]. In Australia, 86% of households have Internet access, a rate which continues to increase with the development of the National Broadband Network [3,4]. 3G and 4G networks increase this reach through mobile phone and tablet devices [5,6], making Internet-based programs more available. EHealth presents opportunities to provide population groups with accessible health interventions, knowledge about Internet access, peoples’ interest in using the Internet for health, and users’ characteristics are required prior to eHealth program development
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