Patients reading their medical records: differences in experiences and attitudes between regular and inexperienced readers

Submitted by Isto Huvila on Wed, 03/16/2016 - 10:39

Publication Type:

Journal Article

Authors:

Isto Huvila; Mats Daniels; Åsa Cajander; Rose-Mharie Åhlfeldt

Source:

Information Research, Volume 21, Number 1 (2016)

URL:

http://www.informationr.net/ir/21-1/paper706.html

Abstract:

Introduction. We report results of a study of how ordering and reading of printouts of medical records by regular and inexperienced readers relate to how the records are used, to the health information practices of patients, and to their expectations of the usefulness of new e-Health services and online access to medical records. Method. The study is based on a combined postal- and Web-survey of a simple random sample of 1000 patients who ordered a paper copy of their medical records from the Uppsala county council (Sweden) with a final analysed sample of 354 returned questionnaires. Analysis. The data were analysed using SPSS 21.0 using descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variation (ANOVA) using Tamhanes T2 test, chi-squared tests and logistic regression analysis. Results. The analysis shows that individuals who had ordered a copy of their medical records in the past perceive their usefulness in broader terms than first-timers. The regular readers are also most concerned about their health and the quality of care. Conclusions. It seems that in addition to certain demographic factors, many of the variations in the data can be explained in terms of adaptive structuration theory. This is a result of a parallel structuration of patients, medical records and the paper-based and online technologies of access, and consequently how patients perceive records and the different methods of accessing and using them.

Taxonomy terms:

Information Services and Digital Literacy provides an alternative perspective for understanding information services and digital literacy, and argues that a central problem in the age of the social web and the culture of participation is that we do not know the premises of how we know, and how ways of interacting with information affect our actions and their outcomes.

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Taking Health Information Behaviour into Account: implications of a neglected element for success- ful implementation of consumer health technologies on older adults (HIBA) is an Academy of Finland funded research project at Åbo Akademi University.

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ARKDIS project maps the implications and opportunities of the digitalisation of information and information work in the domain of archaeology and to develop and evaluate conceptual and practical methods and procedures for enhancing archaeological information work in the digitalised environment.

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