Hogan Timothy P, Hill Jennifer N, Locatelli Sara M, Weaver Frances M, Thomas Florian P, Nazi Kim M, Goldstein Barry, Smith Bridget M
Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, eHealth Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, National eHealth Quality Enhancement Research Initiative Coordinating Center, Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Veterans Health Administration, 200 Springs Rd, Building 70 (152), Bedford, MA 01730(∗); Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA(∗).
Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Health Care, Spinal Cord Injury Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, Veterans Health Administration, Hines, IL(†)(‡)(¶)(‡‡).
PM R. 2016 Feb;8(2):123-30. doi: 10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.06.443. Epub 2015 Jul 8.
Access to health information is crucial to persons living with a spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D). Although previous research has provided insights on computer and Internet use among persons with SCI/D, as well as how and where persons with SCI/D gather health information, few studies have focused on U.S. veterans with SCI/D.
To characterize health information seeking among veterans with SCI/D and to examine the association between technology use and the characteristics of veterans with SCI/D.
Cross-sectional.
Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
Sample of 290 veterans with SCI/D who utilize services at 2 VHA SCI/D Centers.
Postal mail survey.
Extent of computer, Internet, and text messaging use, information source use, and e-Health literacy rates.
The survey response rate was 38%. The majority of respondents were male (97.2%), younger than 65 years (71.0%), and white (71.7%). Of the respondents, 64.8% indicated that they use a computer, 62.9% reported use of the Internet, and 26.2% reported use of text messaging. The mean overall e-Health Literacy Scale score was 27.3 (standard deviation = 7.2). Similar to findings reported in studies focused outside the veteran population, the most frequent source that veterans turned to for information about SCI/D was a health professional (85.1%); this was also the most frequent source that veterans indicated they would turn to first to get information about SCI/D (75.9%). Other frequently reported sources of information included other persons with SCI/D (41.0%), Internet resources (31.0%), and family and friends (27.9%).
Fairly high levels of computer and Internet use exist among veterans with SCI/D. Veterans with SCI/D also have a strong preference for people-particularly health professionals, and to a lesser extent peers and family and friends-as sources of information about SCI/D. These findings highlight the importance of combining technology and human interaction to meet the information needs of this population.
获取健康信息对于脊髓损伤或疾病（SCI/D）患者至关重要。尽管先前的研究已对SCI/D患者的计算机和互联网使用情况，以及他们获取健康信息的方式和地点有所洞察，但很少有研究关注患有SCI/D的美国退伍军人。
描述患有SCI/D的退伍军人寻求健康信息的情况，并研究技术使用与患有SCI/D的退伍军人特征之间的关联。
横断面研究。
退伍军人健康管理局（VHA）。
从2个VHA SCI/D中心接受服务的290名患有SCI/D的退伍军人中抽取的样本。
邮政邮件调查。
计算机、互联网和短信的使用程度、信息来源的使用情况以及电子健康素养率。
调查回复率为38%。大多数受访者为男性（97.2%），年龄小于65岁（71.0%），且为白人（71.7%）。在受访者中，64.8%表示使用计算机，62.9%报告使用互联网，26.2%报告使用短信。电子健康素养量表的平均总分为27.3（标准差=7.2）。与针对非退伍军人人群的研究结果相似，退伍军人获取SCI/D信息最常求助的来源是健康专业人员（85.1%）；这也是退伍军人表示会首先求助以获取SCI/D信息的最常来源（75.9%）。其他经常报告的信息来源包括其他患有SCI/D的人（41.0%）、互联网资源（31.0%）以及家人和朋友（27.9%）。
患有SCI/D的退伍军人中计算机和互联网的使用率相当高。患有SCI/D的退伍军人也强烈倾向于将人员——尤其是健康专业人员，在较小程度上还有同龄人以及家人和朋友——作为SCI/D信息的来源。这些发现凸显了结合技术与人际互动以满足该人群信息需求的重要性。
