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Age, socioeconomics associated with willingness to exchange health info electronically

Age, income, education and trust in clinicians are associated with willingness to exchange health information with providers through mobile devices, with patients in general being disinclined to share anything considered sensitive or complex, according to study findings published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

“An initial qualitative study examining patients’ preferences and attitudes toward mobile technology use to communicate with health care professionals suggests that familiarity with technology and trust in professionals may influence willingness to use mobile devices to engage in [health information exchange (HIE)] with health care professionals,” Katrina J. Serrano, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, and colleagues wrote. “Variability in willingness may depend on the particular type of health information that is being communicated.”

To examine the willingness of patients to share different types of health information via mobile devices, and to assess whether sociodemographic factors and trust in care providers are associated with that willingness, the researchers analyzed data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 4, cycle 3. The researchers reviewed data from September to December 2013, including survey results from 3,165 respondents who answered questions related to HIE.

Survey participants rated how willing they would be to share nine types of health information via mobile devices with clinicians. Types of health care information included appointment reminders, general health tips, medication reminders, laboratory and test results, diagnostic information such as medical illnesses, vital signs, lifestyle behaviors, symptoms and digital images and video. Survey respondents were also asked about their sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, trust in medical professionals and past use of a mobile phone for health information.

According to the researchers, 44% of the respondents were “not at all willing” to exchange diagnostic information, and 40% had the same response toward sharing digital images, with clinicians through a mobile device. Conversely, only 15% were not at all willing to exchange appointment reminders. Participants were willing — either “a little,” “somewhat” or “very” — to share general health tips, medication reminders, laboratory and test results, vital signs, lifestyle behaviors and symptoms, in addition to appointment reminders.

Adults aged 50 years and older were less likely to be more willing to share any information through a mobile device, compared with younger adults aged 18 to 34 years. In addition, respondents with less than a bachelor’s degree had lower odds of being more willing to exchange most types of health information, compared with those with a bachelor’s degree or higher. Participants with a household income of less than $75,000 had lower odds of being more willing to exchange certain types of information. Those who exhibited trust in clinicians had higher odds of being more willing to share all types of information except for digital images and video.

“Health care professionals should provide patients with information related to the benefits of mobile HIE,” Serrano and colleagues said. “In addition, physicians should partner with technologists to ensure mobile technologies related to HIE take into account their patient population and patients’ comfort level with these technologies.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.