E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey
Introduction: The internet plays an important role as a digital source of information. The aim of this work is to investigate patients with disorder of the female sex organ (malignant and benign) to examine their information behavior about their diseases. The role and importance of the internet as a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Informatics in Medicine Unlocked |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914822000909 |
| _version_ | 1811235205224071168 |
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| author | Stefan Hertling Doreen Hertling Ekkehard Schleußner Franziska Loos Isabel Graul |
| author_facet | Stefan Hertling Doreen Hertling Ekkehard Schleußner Franziska Loos Isabel Graul |
| author_sort | Stefan Hertling |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The internet plays an important role as a digital source of information. The aim of this work is to investigate patients with disorder of the female sex organ (malignant and benign) to examine their information behavior about their diseases. The role and importance of the internet as an informative health application for these patients in this context will be highlighted. Materials and methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was based on a survey of patients in Germany during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic among gynecological patients from July 2020 to November 2021. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and simple linear regression analysis was performed to show correlations. Results: We analyzed the responses from 1271 gynecological patients. 91.4% (n = 1162) had an internet-enabled device. Of these, over 55% (n = 644) go online with a smartphone. Only eight percent (n = 101) stated to never feel able to use internet-enabled devices. In addition, almost 47% (n = 596) say that their attitude towards internet-enabled devices changed due the COVID-19 pandemic in a positive way. 82% (n = 1042) of patients can use digital health applications. In addition, more than 82% (n = 1046) believe that the use of digital health applications can have a positive impact on their disease treatment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attitude towards digital health applications changed positively in 41.4% (n = 526). More than 73% of patients (n = 933) reported using DHAs more frequently. 76% of patients (n = 966) use the internet as a source of information about their gynecological health problem. Over 90% of them (n = 874) regularly use the internet for this purpose. Over 73% of patients (n = 928) state that the internet has become an important source of health information for them since the COVID-19 pandemic. For gynecological problems, two thirds of them (621/928) use the internet as a source of health information before consulting a physician. Conclusion: The internet as an informative digital health application in gynecology is used extensively and is widely accepted by patients. Mistrust of gynecological health information from the internet has diminished because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confidence in informative digital health applications from the patient's point of view has increased. The internet was seen as a helpful health information platform in addition to medical consultation. More specialized research in the field of e-health in gynecology is needed. This includes large-scale randomized controlled trials, economic analysis, and explorations of user preferences to increase the confidence and usefulness of informative digital health applications in the future. The most reported benefit of the internet as a digital informative health application was time-independent use. The main obstacles were a lack of trust and evidence of the lack of health information from the internet. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:47:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58cb81d22aae47abbe09a0a86fcfeedc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-9148 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:47:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Informatics in Medicine Unlocked |
| spelling | doaj.art-58cb81d22aae47abbe09a0a86fcfeedc2022-12-22T03:34:17ZengElsevierInformatics in Medicine Unlocked2352-91482022-01-0130100942E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional surveyStefan Hertling0Doreen Hertling1Ekkehard Schleußner2Franziska Loos3Isabel Graul4Department of Obstetrics, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany; Orthopaedic Department, Campus Eisenberg, University Hospital Jena, Eisenberg, Germany; Fakultät für Gesundheit (Department für Humanmedizin), Lehrstuhl für Medizintheorie, Integrative und Anthroposophische Medizin, Witten, Herdecke, Germany; Corresponding author. Department of Obstetrics, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany.Hospital Rummelsberg, Schwarzenbruck, GermanyDepartment of Obstetrics, University Hospital Jena, Jena, GermanyPractice for Orthopaedics and Shoulder Surgery, Leipzig, GermanyOrthopaedic Department, Campus Eisenberg, University Hospital Jena, Eisenberg, Germany; Department of Trauma, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University Hospital Jena, Jena, Germany; Department für Orthopädie, Unfall - Universitätsklinikum Halle, Halle, GermanyIntroduction: The internet plays an important role as a digital source of information. The aim of this work is to investigate patients with disorder of the female sex organ (malignant and benign) to examine their information behavior about their diseases. The role and importance of the internet as an informative health application for these patients in this context will be highlighted. Materials and methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was based on a survey of patients in Germany during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic among gynecological patients from July 2020 to November 2021. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and simple linear regression analysis was performed to show correlations. Results: We analyzed the responses from 1271 gynecological patients. 91.4% (n = 1162) had an internet-enabled device. Of these, over 55% (n = 644) go online with a smartphone. Only eight percent (n = 101) stated to never feel able to use internet-enabled devices. In addition, almost 47% (n = 596) say that their attitude towards internet-enabled devices changed due the COVID-19 pandemic in a positive way. 82% (n = 1042) of patients can use digital health applications. In addition, more than 82% (n = 1046) believe that the use of digital health applications can have a positive impact on their disease treatment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attitude towards digital health applications changed positively in 41.4% (n = 526). More than 73% of patients (n = 933) reported using DHAs more frequently. 76% of patients (n = 966) use the internet as a source of information about their gynecological health problem. Over 90% of them (n = 874) regularly use the internet for this purpose. Over 73% of patients (n = 928) state that the internet has become an important source of health information for them since the COVID-19 pandemic. For gynecological problems, two thirds of them (621/928) use the internet as a source of health information before consulting a physician. Conclusion: The internet as an informative digital health application in gynecology is used extensively and is widely accepted by patients. Mistrust of gynecological health information from the internet has diminished because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Confidence in informative digital health applications from the patient's point of view has increased. The internet was seen as a helpful health information platform in addition to medical consultation. More specialized research in the field of e-health in gynecology is needed. This includes large-scale randomized controlled trials, economic analysis, and explorations of user preferences to increase the confidence and usefulness of informative digital health applications in the future. The most reported benefit of the internet as a digital informative health application was time-independent use. The main obstacles were a lack of trust and evidence of the lack of health information from the internet.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914822000909eHealthGynecologyMyomaEndometriosisInternet |
| spellingShingle | Stefan Hertling Doreen Hertling Ekkehard Schleußner Franziska Loos Isabel Graul E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey Informatics in Medicine Unlocked eHealth Gynecology Myoma Endometriosis Internet |
| title | E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey |
| title_full | E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey |
| title_fullStr | E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey |
| title_short | E-health – The importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of SARs-CoV2: A national cross-sectional survey |
| title_sort | e health the importance of the internet as an informative digital health application for gynecological patients in times of sars cov2 a national cross sectional survey |
| topic | eHealth Gynecology Myoma Endometriosis Internet |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352914822000909 |
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