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Uptake of nutrition informatics in A ustralia compared with the USA
Author(s) -
Maunder Kirsty,
Walton Karen,
Williams Peter,
Ferguson Maree,
Beck Eleanor,
Ayres Elaine,
Hoggle Lindsey
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1747-0080
pISSN - 1446-6368
DOI - 10.1111/1747-0080.12207
Subject(s) - descriptive statistics , informatics , medicine , nursing , psychology , gerontology , medical education , statistics , engineering , mathematics , electrical engineering
Aim To determine the method and extent of health information technology ( HIT ) utilisation, roles in relation to HIT in the workplace and perceived barriers and benefits of HIT by dietitians in A ustralia and provide a comparison with dietitians in the USA . Methods A survey adapted from the 2011 A cademy of N utrition and D ietetics ( A cademy) was utilised and circulated electronically to D ietitians A ssociation of A ustralia members and advertised through a professional nutrition website in 2013. The survey encompassed 25 questions on computer access and use, data sources, experience using HIT , organisational involvement and perceived barriers and benefits to HIT . Descriptive statistics, independent t ‐tests, chi‐square tests and z‐tests were computed to investigate and compare responses from the 2013 A ustralian and 2011 A cademy surveys. Results The survey completion rate represented 14.5% of D ietitians A ssociation of A ustralia members (747) and 5% of A cademy members (3342). The A ustralian and A cademy respondents reported similar high levels of comfort using technology, awareness of workplace HIT benefits (such as enhanced time management and improved ability to access data) and low levels of organisational involvement. However, there were a significantly greater number of A cademy organisations utilising electronic health records ( P < 0.05), and significantly more A cademy respondents (55%) reported ‘no barriers’ to using HIT compared with A ustralians (37%) ( P < 0.05). Conclusions Educational programmes will be central to ensuring dietitians are equipped with technology and information management skills required to be involved in and make informed decisions about dietetic‐related HIT projects as these will soon be fundamental to dietetic practice.