Dataset Information

Surgical patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the internet for e-patient activities in Germany and Oman.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

E-patient activities are known to impact upon the patient-doctor relationship and on surgical outcomes. In Oman, there is no published information about the e-patient. The aim of this study, conducted at two surgical sites, was to investigate surgical e-patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the Internet, and the possible impact on the delivery of healthcare.

Materials and methods

A convenience sample of 83 German and 93 Omani patients at the two surgical sites were given an in-house paper-based questionnaire, based on e-patient activities described in the literature. Descriptive statistics like means, standard deviations and frequencies were calculated.

Results

There were many similarities in usage and attitudes. Omani patients showed much greater knowledge and usage of sites and apps, used the Internet more for health-related activities (26.9% vs. 12.0%), and had a greater proportion of their physician encounters through email (10.0% vs. 4.0%) and social media (15.2% vs. 1.8%). More Omani patients brought information from the Internet than German patients (13.5% vs. 6.0%). Patients from both countries were generally positive about bringing material from the Internet to the consultation.

Discussion and conclusion

Both sites indicated typical e-patient activity and attitudes as described in the literature. Age and type of condition (chronic vs. acute) may explain the differences to some extent, but this was not consistent. Socio-cultural differences between the two countries may have a great influence on the usage.

SUBMITTER: Masters K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7287187 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Surgical patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the internet for e-patient activities in Germany and Oman.

Masters Ken K Loda Teresa T Al-Abri Rashid R Johannink Jonas J Herrmann-Werner Anne A

Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) 20200603

<h4>Introduction</h4>E-patient activities are known to impact upon the patient-doctor relationship and on surgical outcomes. In Oman, there is no published information about the e-patient. The aim of this study, conducted at two surgical sites, was to investigate surgical e-patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the Internet, and the possible impact on the delivery of healthcare.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>A convenience sample of 83 German and 93 Omani patients at the two surgical sites were ...[more]

PMID: 32551100

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Project description:BackgroundThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has highlighted once more the great need for comprehensive access to, and uncomplicated use of, pre-existing patient data for medical research. Enabling secondary research-use of patient-data is a prerequisite for the efficient and sustainable promotion of translation and personalisation in medicine, and for the advancement of public-health. However, balancing the legitimate interests of scientists in broad and unrestricted data-access and the demand for individual autonomy, privacy and social justice is a great challenge for patient-based medical research.MethodsWe therefore conducted two questionnaire-based surveys among North-German outpatients (n = 650) to determine their attitude towards data-donation for medical research, implemented as an opt-out-process.ResultsWe observed a high level of acceptance (75.0%), the most powerful predictor of a positive attitude towards data-donation was the conviction that every citizen has a duty to contribute to the improvement of medical research (> 80% of participants approving data-donation). Interestingly, patients distinguished sharply between research inside and outside the EU, despite a general awareness that universities and public research institutions cooperate with commercial companies, willingness to allow use of donated data by the latter was very low (7.1% to 29.1%, depending upon location of company). The most popular measures among interviewees to counteract reservations against commercial data-use were regulation by law (61.4%), stipulating in the process that data are not sold or resold (84.6%). A majority requested control of both the use (46.8%) and the protection (41.5%) of the data by independent bodies.ConclusionsIn conclusion, data-donation for medical research, implemented as a combination of legal entitlement and easy-to-exercise-right to opt-out, was found to be widely supported by German patients and therefore warrants further consideration for a transposition into national law.

Project description:BackgroundFor biomedical data-driven research purposes, secondary use of clinical data carries great but largely untapped potential. Physicians' attitudes and their needs towards secondary data use are essential to inform its practical and ethically sound implementation but are currently understudied.ObjectiveTherefore, the objectives of the study are to assess physicians' (i) general attitudes and concerns, (ii) willingness to adapt workflows and to make data available for secondary use, (iii) group-specific conditions toward implementation of secondary use and associated concerns of physician-scientists and purely clinical physicians.MethodsWe developed an online survey based on a literature review and an expert interview study. Physicians in private practice and at two large German university hospitals were surveyed from May 2021 until January 2022.ResultsIn total, 446 physicians participated in the survey. 96% [380/397] of all physicians reported a positive attitude towards secondary use; 87% [31/397] are in-principle willing to support secondary use of clinical data along with a small proportion of physicians with fundamental reservations. Secondly, the most important conditions for adapting workflows were funding of additional time and effort for research-adequate documentation (71% [286/390]) and the most important condition for providing patients' clinical data was reliable protection of patients' privacy (67% [254/382]). Thirdly, physician-scientists were more likely than purely clinical physicians to request additional funding for research-adequate documentation as a precondition for support (83% vs 69%, P = .002) and the privilege to conduct research with their own patients' clinical data before other researchers are allowed to (43% vs 11%, P < .001); while purely clinical physicians more frequently require reliable protection of patient privacy (76% vs 62%, P = .007) and monetary compensation (45% vs 25%, P < .001).ConclusionSince this study presents high in-principle willingness of physicians to support secondary use along with little general concerns, it seems essential to address physicians' group-specific conditions toward secondary use in order to gain their support.

Project description:BackgroundThe Surgical Safety Checklist (SSC) has been shown to reduce perioperative errors and complications and its implementation is recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO). However, it is unknown how widely this intervention is used. We investigated attitudes and factors associated with use of WHO SSC in frontline medical professionals across the globe using a survey distributed through social networks.MethodsA survey of usage and opinions regarding the SSC was posted on the Facebook and Twitter pages of a not-for-profit surgical news website for one month (March 2013). Respondents were grouped into four groups based on their country's Gross National Income: high, upper middle, lower middle and low income. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate how different factors were associated with the use of the SSC.Results6269 medical professionals from 69 countries responded to the survey: most respondents were from lower middle (47.4%) countries, followed by: high (35.0%), upper middle (14.6%), and low (3.0%) income countries. In total, 57.5% reported that they used the WHO SSC perioperatively. Fewer respondents used the WHO SSC in upper middle, lower middle and low income countries (LMICs) compared to high income countries (43.5% vs. 83.5%, p < 0.001). Female (61.3% vs. 56.4% males, p = 0.001), consultant surgeons (59.6% vs. 53.2% interns, p < 0.001) and working in university hospitals (61.4% vs. 53.7% non-university hospitals, p < 0.001) were more likely to use the SSC. Believing the SSC was useful, did not work or caused delays was independently associated with the respondents reported use of the SSC (OR 1.22 95% CI 1.07-1.39; OR 0.47 95% CI 0.36-0.60; OR 0.64 95% CI 0.53-0.77, respectively).ConclusionThis study suggests the use of the WHO SSC is variable across countries, especially in LMICs where it has the most potential to improve patient safety. Critical appraisal of the documented benefits of the WHO SSC may improve its adoption by those not currently using it.

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Dataset Information

Surgical patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the internet for e-patient activities in Germany and Oman.

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results

Discussion and conclusion

Publications

Surgical patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the internet for e-patient activities in Germany and Oman.

Similar Datasets

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