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Health Information Seeking and Technology Use Among Veterans With Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders
Author(s) -
Hogan Timothy P.,
Hill Jennifer N.,
Locatelli Sara M.,
Weaver Frances M.,
Thomas Florian P.,
Nazi Kim M.,
Goldstein Barry,
Smith Bridget M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
pmandr
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.617
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1934-1563
pISSN - 1934-1482
DOI - 10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.06.443
Subject(s) - medicine , health literacy , health information national trends survey , population , the internet , spinal cord injury , health information , gerontology , health information technology , family medicine , psychiatry , health care , environmental health , spinal cord , world wide web , computer science , economics , economic growth
Background Access to health information is crucial to persons living with a spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D). Although previous research has provided insights on computer and Internet use among persons with SCI/D, as well as how and where persons with SCI/D gather health information, few studies have focused on U.S. veterans with SCI/D. Objective To characterize health information seeking among veterans with SCI/D and to examine the association between technology use and the characteristics of veterans with SCI/D. Design Cross‐sectional. Setting Veterans Health Administration (VHA). Participants Sample of 290 veterans with SCI/D who utilize services at 2 VHA SCI/D Centers. Methods Postal mail survey. Main Outcome Measurements Extent of computer, Internet, and text messaging use, information source use, and e‐Health literacy rates. Results The survey response rate was 38%. The majority of respondents were male (97.2%), younger than 65 years (71.0%), and white (71.7%). Of the respondents, 64.8% indicated that they use a computer, 62.9% reported use of the Internet, and 26.2% reported use of text messaging. The mean overall e‐Health Literacy Scale score was 27.3 (standard deviation = 7.2). Similar to findings reported in studies focused outside the veteran population, the most frequent source that veterans turned to for information about SCI/D was a health professional (85.1%); this was also the most frequent source that veterans indicated they would turn to first to get information about SCI/D (75.9%). Other frequently reported sources of information included other persons with SCI/D (41.0%), Internet resources (31.0%), and family and friends (27.9%). Conclusions Fairly high levels of computer and Internet use exist among veterans with SCI/D. Veterans with SCI/D also have a strong preference for people—particularly health professionals, and to a lesser extent peers and family and friends—as sources of information about SCI/D. These findings highlight the importance of combining technology and human interaction to meet the information needs of this population.