A survey of the prevalence of cell phones capable of receiving health information among patients presenting to an Urban Emergency Department.
J Emerg Med
; 44(4): 875-88, 2013 Apr.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-23321292
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Mobile devices have been shown to assist patients with comprehension of health information, yet sparse data exist on what mobile devices patients own and preferences for receiving health information.OBJECTIVES:
To determine the prevalence of mobile devices capable of receiving health information among patients/visitors presenting to an urban Emergency Department (ED).METHODS:
A random sample of patients/visitors ≥18 years was surveyed. The primary outcome was prevalence of mobile devices capable of receiving health information among patient/visitor units presenting to the ED. Means and 95% confidence intervals were derived for continuous data; proportions with Fisher's exact 95% confidence intervals were derived for categorical data. Institutional review board approval was received before study initiation.RESULTS:
Surveyors approached 1307subjects:
68% (885) were eligible; 70% (620) agreed to participate; 4 participants were excluded, leaving 70% (616) in the final sample. Of the 616 participants, 82% stated cell phone ownership (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79-0.85). Among cell phone owners (n = 507), 90% had the device with them (95% CI 0.87-0.92) in the ED. Of these participants (n = 456), 77% had text messaging (95% CI 0.73-0.81), 51% had Internet (95% CI 0.47-0.56), 51% had e-mail (95% CI 0.46-0.56), 39% could download audio content (95% CI 0.34-0.43), and 35% could download videos (95% CI 0.31-0.40). Even among those having an annual income ≤$20,000, nearly 80% of persons owned cell phones.CONCLUSIONS:
Cell phones capable of receiving health information are prevalent among patients/visitors presenting to an urban ED.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Informática Médica
/
Telefone Celular
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Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2013
Tipo de documento:
Article