Liu Zhenghong, Ng Mingwei, Gunasekeran Dinesh V, Li Huihua, Ponampalam Kishanti, Ponampalam R
SingHealth Emergency Medicine Residency Programme, Singapore Health Services, Singapore.
Ministry of Health Holdings, Singapore.
World J Emerg Med. 2020;11(1):5-11. doi: 10.5847/wjem.j.1920-8642.2020.01.001.
Developments in information technology (IT) have driven a push in healthcare innovation in the emergency department (ED). Many of these applications rely on mobile technology (MT) such as smartphones but not everyone is comfortable with MT usage. Our study aims to characterize the technology usage behavior of users in the ED so as to guide the implementation of IT interventions in the ED.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the emergency department of a tertiary hospital. Patients and their caregivers aged 21 and above were recruited. The survey collected demographic information, technology usage patterns, and participant reported comfort level in the usage of MT. We performed descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression to identify factors differentially associated with comfort in usage of MT.
A total of 498 participants were recruited, and 299 (60%) were patients. English was the most commonly written and read language (66.9%) and 64.2% reported a comfort level of 3/5 or more in using MT. Factors that were associated with being comfortable in using MT include having a tertiary education, being able to read and write English, as well as being a frequent user of IT. Caregivers were more likely to display these characteristics.
A large proportion of ED patients are not comfortable in the usage of MT. Factors that predicted comfort level in the usage of MT were common amongst caregivers. Future interventions should take this into consideration in the design of MT interventions.
信息技术（IT）的发展推动了急诊科（ED）的医疗创新。这些应用程序中有许多依赖于移动技术（MT），如智能手机，但并非每个人都习惯使用移动技术。我们的研究旨在描述急诊科用户的技术使用行为，以指导急诊科IT干预措施的实施。
在一家三级医院的急诊科进行了一项横断面调查。招募了年龄在21岁及以上的患者及其护理人员。该调查收集了人口统计学信息、技术使用模式以及参与者报告的移动技术使用舒适度。我们进行了描述性统计和多变量逻辑回归，以确定与移动技术使用舒适度差异相关的因素。
共招募了498名参与者，其中299名（60%）为患者。英语是最常用的读写语言（66.9%），64.2%的人报告使用移动技术的舒适度为3/5或更高。与使用移动技术感到舒适相关的因素包括拥有高等教育、能够读写英语以及经常使用IT。护理人员更有可能表现出这些特征。
很大一部分急诊科患者对使用移动技术感到不自在。预测移动技术使用舒适度的因素在护理人员中很常见。未来的干预措施在设计移动技术干预时应考虑到这一点。
