Readiness of Patients with Chronic Diseases to Use Health Information Technology: An Experience of a Developing Country

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, many health information technology (HIT) interventions are developed for self-care management of chronic diseases. Application of these interventions requires patients' readiness to use HIT. The current study aimed at determining the readiness of patients with chronic diseases referring to the clinics of educational hospitals in Khorramabad, Iran, to use HIT. Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted on patients with chronic diseases referring to the clinics of teaching hospitals in Khoramabad, Iran, in 2016. A sample of 475 patients with chronic diseases was selected by the convenience sampling method. Data were collected using the valid and reliable PRE-HIT (patient readiness to engage in health information technology) questionnaire. This questionnaire is composed of two sections, sociodemographic characteristics and patient readiness factors including health information need, computer/internet experience, computer anxiety, preferred mode of interaction, relationship with doctor, cell-phone expertise, internet privacy concerns, and health news on a four-point Likert-scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 20. Results: The results showed that 24.4% (n = 100) of the participants had the experience of using computers. Participants' experience of computer application had a significant relationship with their age, marital status, job, educational level, living place, health status, and disease type (P = 0.001), but it had no significant relationship with their gender. The readiness of patients with chronic diseases and the experience of computer application was at a medium level (mean ± standard deviation (SD) = 2.77 ± 0.59). The highest and lowest scores of readiness were related to the relationship with doctors (mean ± SD = 3.37 ± 0.52) and computer anxiety factors (mean ± SD = 2.30 ± 0.60), respectively. Conclusions: The results of the current study showed that patients' readiness to engage in HIT was at a medium level. Hence, any plans to use computers and improve readiness of patients with chronic diseases to use HIT can eliminate the challenges of accepting IT by the patients. These can also change patients' lifestyle and improve self-care management of chronic diseases.

Evaluation of medical sciences students’ awareness of the patients’ rights charter: a cross-sectional study

“…Comparison of the averages of charter domains revealed that the highest average was related to the right to access services, significantly surpassing the moderate level. This finding aligns with some previous studies ( 11 , 13 , 18 ). However, it contrasts with a study by Ranjbar et al, where the lowest average was found for this domain ( 19 ).…”

“…The right to data confidentiality covered areas such access to patients’ medical records and avoiding disclosure of patients’ confidential information. In the present study, about half of the students had adequate awareness about this domain, consistent with the results of a similar study by Samadbeik et al ( 13 ). However, the students’ awareness of this domain was below average in a study by Mortazavi et al In this study, the poor awareness of rehabilitation science students was attributed to factors such as a lack of knowledge about the concept of privacy in rehabilitation treatments, which was related to the absence of effective education on the concepts of privacy and confidentiality in this group of students ( 11 ).…”

“…The right to informed consent covered subdomains such as the responsibility of acquiring informed consent, acquisition of informed consent for live donation, and the necessary conditions for giving consent. In this study, the level of awareness of the right to informed consent was consistent with the results of a study by Mortazavi et al ( 11 ), while it was inconsistent with the results of studies conducted by Samadbeik et al and Ranjbar et al ( 13 , 19 ).…”

“…According to the results, the students’ overall awareness of the patients’ rights charter was slightly above moderate. A literature review indicated moderate awareness of patients’ rights charter ( 12 , 13 , 18 , 20 - 22 ). Vakili et al conducted a review study to evaluate medical students’ knowledge of patients’ rights and its determinants, finding moderate knowledge in this regard ( 15 ).…”

“…Moreover, only 28% of the students had a good level of awareness in this regard ( 12 ). Samadbeik et al also found that the majority of the students had moderate levels of awareness about the patients’ rights charter ( 13 ).…”