Older patients have lower mobile health proficiency, as do those with Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity, less than college education
FRIDAY, Jan. 8, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Most dialysis patients have access to internet-capable devices and report intermediate or advanced mobile health proficiency, according to a study published in the Dec. 31 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Wael F. Hussein, M.D., from Satellite Healthcare Inc. in San Jose, California, and colleagues examined the status and correlates of mobile health readiness in 949 patients on dialysis (632 at hemodialysis facilities and 317 receiving home dialysis) who completed a 30-item survey.
The researchers found that 81 and 72 percent of respondents reported owning smartphones or other internet-capable devices and using the internet, respectively. Seventy percent of respondents reported intermediate or advanced mobile health proficiency. Appointments, communication with health care personnel, and laboratory results were the main reasons for using mobile health (56, 56, and 55 percent, respectively). Privacy and security were the main concerns reported with mobile health (18 percent). Compared with patients aged 45 to 60 years, older patients had lower mobile health proficiency (adjusted odds ratios [aORs], 5.04, 0.39, and 0.22 for patients aged <45 years, 61 to 70 years, and >70 years, respectively). Participants with Hispanic/Latinx ethnicity had lower proficiency (aOR, 0.49), as did those with less than college education (aORs, 0.09 and 0.26 for “below high school” and “high school only,” respectively).
“Findings of our study are encouraging to health care providers and technology developers to invest in innovations and solutions that utilize mobile health,” Hussein said in a statement.
Several authors are employees of Satellite Healthcare; one author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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