Browsing by Subject "Attitude to Computers"

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    Do diabetic veterans use the Internet? Self-reported usage, skills, and interest in using My HealtheVet Web portal.
    (Telemed J E Health, 2010-06) Cho, Alex H; Arar, Nedal H; Edelman, David E; Hartwell, Patricia H; Oddone, Eugene Z; Yancy, William S
    OBJECTIVE: The Veterans Health Administration has developed My HealtheVet (MHV), a Web-based portal that links veterans to their care in the veteran affairs (VA) system. The objective of this study was to measure diabetic veterans' access to and use of the Internet, and their interest in using MHV to help manage their diabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional mailed survey of 201 patients with type 2 diabetes and hemoglobin A(1c) > 8.0% receiving primary care at any of five primary care clinic sites affiliated with a VA tertiary care facility. Main measures included Internet usage, access, and attitudes; computer skills; interest in using the Internet; awareness of and attitudes toward MHV; demographics; and socioeconomic status. RESULTS: A majority of respondents reported having access to the Internet at home. Nearly half of all respondents had searched online for information about diabetes, including some who did not have home Internet access. More than a third obtained "some" or "a lot" of their health-related information online. Forty-one percent reported being "very interested" in using MHV to help track their home blood glucose readings, a third of whom did not have home Internet access. Factors associated with being "very interested" were as follows: having access to the Internet at home (p < 0.001), "a lot/some" trust in the Internet as a source of health information (p = 0.002), lower age (p = 0.03), and some college (p = 0.04). Neither race (p = 0.44) nor income (p = 0.25) was significantly associated with interest in MHV. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that a diverse sample of older VA patients with sub-optimally controlled diabetes had a level of familiarity with and access to the Internet comparable to an age-matched national sample. In addition, there was a high degree of interest in using the Internet to help manage their diabetes.
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    Willingness of Patients to Use Computers for Health Communication and Monitoring Following Myocardial Infarction.
    (Computers, informatics, nursing : CIN, 2015-09) Shaw, Ryan J; Zullig, Leah L; Crowley, Matthew J; Grambow, Steven C; Lindquist, Jennifer H; Shah, Bimal R; Peterson, Eric; Bosworth, Hayden B
    We describe the computer use characteristics of 406 post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients and their willingness to engage online for health communication and monitoring. Most participants were computer users (n = 259; 63.8%) and half (n = 209; 51.5%) read health information online at least monthly. However, most participants did not go online to track health conditions (n = 283; 69.7%), look at medical records (n = 287; 70.7%), or e-mail doctors (n = 351; 86.5%). Most participants would consider using a Web site to e-mail doctors (n = 275; 67.7%), share medical information with doctors (n = 302; 74.4%), send biological data to their doctor (n = 308; 75.9%), look at medical records (n = 321; 79.1%), track health conditions (n = 331; 81.5%), and read about health conditions (n = 332; 81.8%). Sharing health information online with family members (n = 181; 44.6%) or for support groups (n = 223; 54.9%) was not of much interest. Most post-MI participants reported they were interested in communicating with their provider and tracking their health conditions online. Because patients with a history of MI tend to be older and are disproportionately minority, researchers and clinicians must be careful to design interventions that embrace post-MI patients of diverse backgrounds that both improve their access to care and health outcomes.