Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients
The Internet and smartphones have become commonplace and can be effective in overcoming traditional barriers to accessing health information about substance use disorders (SUD), and their prevention or treatment. Little is known, however, about specific factors that may influence the use of these te...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Addictive Behaviors Reports |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853218301500 |
| _version_ | 1811338037773205504 |
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| author | Carmen L. Masson Ida Q. Chen Jacob A. Levine Michael S. Shopshire James L. Sorensen |
| author_facet | Carmen L. Masson Ida Q. Chen Jacob A. Levine Michael S. Shopshire James L. Sorensen |
| author_sort | Carmen L. Masson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Internet and smartphones have become commonplace and can be effective in overcoming traditional barriers to accessing health information about substance use disorders (SUD), and their prevention or treatment. Little is known, however, about specific factors that may influence the use of these technologies among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations with SUDs. This study characterized the use of digital technologies and the Internet among individuals receiving treatment for opioid use disorder, focusing on identifying predictors of Internet use for health-related purposes. Participants came from an urban opioid replacement therapy program and completed a face-to-face survey on Internet and technology use. We examined the association between online health information seeking and technology acceptance variables, including perceived usefulness, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions (e.g., availability of devices/services and technical support). Participants (N = 178, ages 18–64) endorsed high rates of current smartphone ownership (94%) and everyday Internet use (67%). 88% of participants reported searching online for information about health or medical topics in the past 3 months. Predictors of Internet use for health-related purposes were higher technology acceptance for mobile Internet use, younger age, current employment, and less bodily pain. Our results demonstrate high acceptance and use of mobile technology and the Internet among this sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals with SUDs. However, these findings also highlight the importance of identifying barriers that disadvantaged groups face in using mobile technologies when designing technology-based interventions for this population. Keywords: Mobile phone, Internet, Technology acceptance, Opioid use, Opioid replacement therapy |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:05:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dbef6179d1b04bd49ba6c73a68fc8716 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2352-8532 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T18:05:01Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Addictive Behaviors Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-dbef6179d1b04bd49ba6c73a68fc87162022-12-22T02:36:07ZengElsevierAddictive Behaviors Reports2352-85322019-06-019Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patientsCarmen L. Masson0Ida Q. Chen1Jacob A. Levine2Michael S. Shopshire3James L. Sorensen4Corresponding author at: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, 1001 Potrero Avenue, Box 0852, San Francisco, CA 94110, United States.; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, United StatesThe Internet and smartphones have become commonplace and can be effective in overcoming traditional barriers to accessing health information about substance use disorders (SUD), and their prevention or treatment. Little is known, however, about specific factors that may influence the use of these technologies among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations with SUDs. This study characterized the use of digital technologies and the Internet among individuals receiving treatment for opioid use disorder, focusing on identifying predictors of Internet use for health-related purposes. Participants came from an urban opioid replacement therapy program and completed a face-to-face survey on Internet and technology use. We examined the association between online health information seeking and technology acceptance variables, including perceived usefulness, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions (e.g., availability of devices/services and technical support). Participants (N = 178, ages 18–64) endorsed high rates of current smartphone ownership (94%) and everyday Internet use (67%). 88% of participants reported searching online for information about health or medical topics in the past 3 months. Predictors of Internet use for health-related purposes were higher technology acceptance for mobile Internet use, younger age, current employment, and less bodily pain. Our results demonstrate high acceptance and use of mobile technology and the Internet among this sample of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals with SUDs. However, these findings also highlight the importance of identifying barriers that disadvantaged groups face in using mobile technologies when designing technology-based interventions for this population. Keywords: Mobile phone, Internet, Technology acceptance, Opioid use, Opioid replacement therapyhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853218301500 |
| spellingShingle | Carmen L. Masson Ida Q. Chen Jacob A. Levine Michael S. Shopshire James L. Sorensen Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients Addictive Behaviors Reports |
| title | Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| title_full | Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| title_fullStr | Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| title_short | Health-related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| title_sort | health related internet use among opioid treatment patients |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853218301500 |
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