Ronda Gaby, Portegijs Piet, Dinant Geert-Jan, Buntinx Frank, Norg Roelf, van der Weijden Trudy
Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
BMC Public Health. 2009 Apr 9;9:100. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-100.
A range of self-tests on body materials has become available to the general public, but the extent of their use has hardly been studied. This study examined how many people use diagnostic self-tests on body materials such as blood or urine, as well as the type of tests that are used, and factors associated with their use.
Cross-sectional survey. Participants were recruited from an existing Dutch Internet panel of 12,529 persons, and information was collected by means of a structured Internet-based questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess correlates of self-test use.
Response to the survey was 63%. Sixteen percent of the respondents said they had ever used at least one self-test, with a mean of 2.1 tests per self-tester. The most frequently reported self-tests were those for diabetes and cholesterol. Self-testers generally reported lower health status and had a higher BMI than non-testers. On the other hand, they were more likely to engage in health-related behaviour such as the use of dietary supplements and homeopathic medicine.
Self-testing proved to be relatively prevalent among Dutch Internet users. We therefore think that it is essential to develop appropriate information for consumers, health care providers and policymakers, about the pros and cons of self-testing and specific self-tests. More test-specific research is needed.
一系列针对身体物质的自我检测已面向公众，但对其使用程度的研究却几乎没有。本研究调查了有多少人使用针对血液或尿液等身体物质的诊断性自我检测，以及所使用检测的类型，还有与使用相关的因素。
横断面调查。参与者从荷兰一个现有的12529人的互联网样本中招募，信息通过基于互联网的结构化问卷收集。采用多重逻辑回归分析来评估自我检测使用的相关因素。
调查的回复率为63%。16%的受访者表示他们曾使用过至少一种自我检测，每个自我检测者平均使用2.1次检测。最常报告的自我检测是糖尿病和胆固醇检测。自我检测者普遍报告健康状况较差，且体重指数高于非自我检测者。另一方面，他们更有可能参与与健康相关的行为，如使用膳食补充剂和顺势疗法药物。
自我检测在荷兰互联网用户中相对普遍。因此，我们认为有必要为消费者、医疗保健提供者和政策制定者提供有关自我检测和特定自我检测利弊的适当信息。还需要更多针对特定检测的研究。
