Retention and use of personal health records: A population‐based study

Abstract

A parent-held record has been issued to all children born in New South Wales (NSW), Australia since 1988. Five years after its introduction, an evaluation was undertaken to determine its retention rate over time, rate of documentation of immunization status and other important child health information, and its perceived usefulness to parents. The cross-sectional study comprised an interviewer administered questionnaire to 622 households derived from a stratified random sample of 25 local government areas, representative of 73% of all households containing children under 5 years of age in NSW. A concurrent postal survey assessed the attitudes and use of the Personal Health Record (PHR) among a stratified random sample of 911 health care providers. Results showed that the PHR was well retained, with 89% claimed retention at 4 years, and over 78% of parents able to produce the record for inspection at interview. Of the records examined, 91% had at least one immunization recorded while 68% had a complete regimen documented by age 4 years. Overall, 93% of parents expressed satisfaction with the PHR, while 64% of all health care providers also felt that the PHR was 'beneficial to the health care children received', although only 53% of these used it regularly to record their findings. It is concluded that the PHR currently issued in NSW is well retained and valued by parents, and used by and useful to a range of health professionals.

A Research Agenda for Personal Health Records (PHRs)

“…16 These trends mirror research in paper based PHRs, which show high support for PHRs, but relatively low utilization. 25 This suggests that until PHRs provide valuable functions that improve care on some level, or in other ways promote "stickiness," adoption rates will remain low.…”

The Utility of Developmental Checklists in Parent-held Health Records in Singapore

“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] This study is, however, the first to examine parents' perceptions of the utility of the developmental checklists in the health booklet as a tool for developmental surveillance and screening in Singapore. Data on how much of the developmental checklists are completed, parents' awareness and use of the developmental checklists, and how user-friendly parents find the health booklet, will be important information to plan further modifications of the health booklet and to develop it as a main tool of developmental surveillance and screening in Singapore.…”

Perinatal factors reported by mothers: do they agree with medical records?

“…As the PCHR exists in most European countries, this approach could be possible almost everywhere [32]. English, Australian and French studies that have examined use of PCHRs, although they did not specifically assess the validity of the neonatal information they contained, suggested that items on the neonatal period (birth weight, Apgar scores and information related to delivery) were satisfactorily completed and so potentially useful in epidemiological studies [33][34][35][36][37].…”