Dataset Information

The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey [HINTS]: a national cross-sectional analysis of talking to your doctor and other healthcare providers for health information.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The need to understand preferred sources of health information remains important to providing patient-centered care. The Internet remains a popular resource for health information, but more traditional sources may still be valid for patients during a recent health need. This study sought to understand the characteristics of patients that turn to their doctor or healthcare provider first for a recent health or medical information need.

Methods

Using the national cross-sectional survey, Health Information National Trend Study [HINTS], characteristics of those who sought a doctor or healthcare provider for a recent health information need were compared to other sources. Weighted survey responses from Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 of the HINTS survey were used for multivariable logistic regression.

Results

A total 5,307 patient responses were analyzed. Overall, those who seek a doctor or healthcare provider first for a health need are female, 46-64 years, White non-Hispanic, educated, in good health and users of the Internet. Yet, adjusted logistic regressions showed that those who sought a doctor or healthcare provider first during a recent health information need compared to other sources were most likely to be 65+ years, in poor health, less educated and have health insurance.

Conclusions

Patients who seek their doctor or healthcare provider first for health information rather than other sources of information represent a unique population. Doctors or healthcare providers remain an important resource for these patients during recent needs, despite the wide use of the Internet as a source of health information.

SUBMITTER: Volkman JE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4055386 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey [HINTS]: a national cross-sectional analysis of talking to your doctor and other healthcare providers for health information.

Volkman Julie E JE Luger Tana M TM Harvey Kimberly L L KL Hogan Timothy P TP Shimada Stephanie L SL Amante Daniel D McInnes D Keith DK Feng Hua H Houston Thomas K TK

BMC family practice 20140606

<h4>Background</h4>The need to understand preferred sources of health information remains important to providing patient-centered care. The Internet remains a popular resource for health information, but more traditional sources may still be valid for patients during a recent health need. This study sought to understand the characteristics of patients that turn to their doctor or healthcare provider first for a recent health or medical information need.<h4>Methods</h4>Using the national cross-se ...[more]

PMID: 24906558

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Project description:BackgroundHealth information is crucial for preservation of health and maintenance of healthy practices among cancer survivors. This study examines the sources and factors associated with choice of health information source among cancer survivors and those without a cancer history.MethodsWe examined health information sources utilized by cancer history between 2011-2014 and 2017-2018 using the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Factors associated with seeking health information were examined using multinomial logistic regression. Data from HINTS 4, cycles 1-4 (2011-2014) and HINTS 5, cycles 1-2 (2017-2018) were combined and used for all analyses. HINTS-FDA, cycles 1-2 (2015-2017) were excluded from this study because the question about a cancer history was not asked.ResultsOver half of cancer survivors (52.7%) and those without a cancer history (60.9%) obtained their health information through the media. Among cancer survivors, factors associated with health information seeking either through the media or interpersonal communication relative to not seeking information were age, gender, level of education, income, marital status and having a regular healthcare provider. Male survivors were 39% less likely to seek health information from the media (aOR: 0.61; 95% CI: 0.38-0.99) while those with a regular health provider had significantly higher odds of seeking health information via interpersonal communication (aOR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.09-3.38). In addition, widowed cancer survivors had lower odds of seeking health information from either interpersonal communication (aOR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.13-0.60) or the media (aOR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.13-0.69). In the study population without a cancer history, compared to non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics and non-Hispanic other categories were significantly less likely to seek health information from the media rather than not seek health information.ConclusionSocioeconomic status, marital status, gender and age are important correlates of choice of health information source among cancer survivors in the US. These factors may be useful in guiding interventions aimed at various groups of cancer surviving populations to ensure that they improve their health seeking behaviors.

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Project description:BackgroundThe Health Information System (HIS) is a set of computerized tools for the collection, storage, management, and transmission of health data. The role of such tools in supporting the modernization of health systems, improving access to quality healthcare, and reducing costs in developing countries is unquestionable, but their implementation faces several challenges. In Gabon, a unique national electronic HIS has been launched. It will connect healthcare institutions and providers at all levels in the whole country.ObjectiveThis study aims to explore and identify the factors influencing healthcare providers' perceptions of the national electronic HIS in Gabon.MethodsA 44-item questionnaire based on the Information System Success Model (ISSM) was administered between February and April 2018 among 2600 healthcare providers across the country. The questions assessed the different aspects of the HIS that could influence its perceived impact on a 5-level Likert scale (from fully agree to totally disagree). The reliability and construct validity of the questionnaire were checked using Cronbach alpha and congeneric reliability coefficients. A logistic regression was used to identify the factors influencing healthcare providers' perceptions of the system.ResultsA total of 2327 questionnaires were completed (i.e. 89.5% response rate). The logistic regression identified five elements that significantly influenced perceived system impact: System Quality (Odds Ratio-OR?=?1.70), Information Quality (OR?=?1.69), Actual Use (OR?=?1.41), Support Quality (OR?=?1.37), and Useful Functions (OR?=?1.14). The model explained 30% of the variance in providers' perception that the national HIS leads to positive impacts.DiscussionThe results show that healthcare providers' perceptions regarding the positive impact of the national HIS in Gabon are influenced by their previous use of an HIS, the scope of their usage, and the quality of the system, information, and support provided to users. These results could inform the development of strategies to ensure adequate change of management and user experience for the implementation of the national HIS in Gabon, and eventually in other low resource environments.

Project description:BackgroundEmerging health technologies are increasingly being used in health care for communication, data collection, patient monitoring, education, and facilitating adherence to chronic disease management. However, there is a lack of studies on differences in the preference for using information exchange technologies between patients with chronic and nonchronic diseases and factors affecting these differences.ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to understand the preferences and use of information technology for information exchange among a nationally representative sample of adults with and without 3 chronic disease conditions (ie, cardiovascular disease [CVD], diabetes, and hypertension) and to assess whether these preferences differ according to varying demographic variables.MethodsWe utilized data from the 2012 and 2014 iteration of the Health Information National Trends Survey (N=7307). We used multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for relevant demographic covariates, to identify the independent factors associated with lower odds of using health information technology (HIT), thus, identifying targets for awareness. Analyses were weighted for the US population and adjusted for the sociodemographic variables of age, gender, race, and US census region.ResultsOf 7307 participants, 3529 reported CVD, diabetes, or hypertension. In the unadjusted models, individuals with diabetes, CVD, or hypertension were more likely to report using email to exchange medical information with their provider and less likely to not use any of the technology in health information exchange, as well as more likely to say it was not important for them to access personal medical information electronically. In the unadjusted model, additional significant odds ratio (OR) values were observed. However, after adjustment, most relationships regarding the use and interest in exchanging information with the provider were no longer significant. In the adjusted model, individuals with CVD, diabetes, or hypertension were more likely to access Web-based personal health information through a website or app. Furthermore, we assessed adjusted ORs for demographic variables. Those aged >65 years and Hispanic people were more likely to report no use of email to exchange medical information with their provider. Minorities (Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, and Asian people) were less likely to indicate they had no interest in exchanging general health tips with a provider electronically.ConclusionsThe analysis did not show any significant association among those with comorbidities and their proclivity toward health information, possibly implying that HIT-related interventions, particularly design of information technologies, should focus more on demographic factors, including race, age, and region, than on comorbidities or chronic disease status to increase the likelihood of use. Future research is needed to understand and explore more patient-friendly use and design of information technologies, which can be utilized by diverse age, race, and education or health literacy groups efficiently to further bridge the patient-provider communication gap.

Project description:BackgroundPatient feedback after contact with a hospital is regarded as an important source of information for the improvement of local healthcare services. Routine patient surveys are in widespread use to obtain such feedback. While general principles for the composition of this kind of surveys have been described in the literature, it is unknown which method of contact and topics of feedback are important to patients in postcontact healthcare surveys.Material and methodsWe invited 2931 consecutive patients who had in- or outpatient contact with the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology at the University Hospital Basel to an anonymous survey. They were asked whether they were generally in favor of feedback surveys. They also had the opportunity to state their preferred form of contact (text message, app, email, online or letter) and provide up to three topics that they regarded as specifically important in patient surveys.ResultsA total of 745 patients participated in the survey (25.4%), of these 61.9% expressed the preference to be surveyed, and 69.1% selected `letter' as one of the preferred forms of contact. Favoring only `letter' contact increased substantially with age. Overall 54.6% of patients stated at least one topic that they wished to give feedback on. The most frequent topics were related to treatment and rather general aspects regarding staff and overall impression. The wish to include suggestions for improvements was rarely mentioned as specific topic.ConclusionsThe majority of patients seem to be rather indifferent to the existence and content of patient surveys. They mention a wide range of topics from general to specific ones, but do not express interest in the opportunity to suggest changes. There is a need to effectively engage patients in healthcare planning using new approaches to obtain valuable feedback on patients' hospital stay and contact experiences. These new approaches should ideally be more informative and cost-effective than the current practice.

Dataset Information

The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey [HINTS]: a national cross-sectional analysis of talking to your doctor and other healthcare providers for health information.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey [HINTS]: a national cross-sectional analysis of talking to your doctor and other healthcare providers for health information.

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