Neurodegenerative Diseases Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Francesco Sforza 35, 20122, Milan, Italy.
University of Milan, "Dino Ferrari" Center, Milan, Italy.
Neurol Sci. 2021 Apr;42(4):1247-1251. doi: 10.1007/s10072-020-05009-w. Epub 2021 Jan 18.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has dramatically stressed the health care system and has provoked changes in population use of digital technologies. Digital divide is any uneven distribution in Information and Communications Technologies between people.
The purpose of this work was to describe the digital divide of a population of patients with dementia contacted by telemedicine during Italian lockdown for COVID-19 pandemic.
One hundred eight patients with cognitive impairment were contacted by video call to perform a telemedicine neurological evaluation. Information on patients and caregivers attending the televisit were recorded.
Seventy-four patients connected with neurologist (successful televisit, 68.5%) and 34 patients were not able to perform televisit and were contacted by phone (failed televisit, 31.5%). No significant differences were observed among the two groups concerning age, gender, and education, but the prevalence of successful televisit was higher in the presence of younger caregivers: televisits performed in the presence of subjects of younger generation (sons and grandsons) had a successful rate higher (86% successful, 14% failed) than the group without younger generation caregiver (49% successful, 51% failed). This difference is mainly due to the ability of technological use among younger people.
The most impacting factors on digital divide in our population are the social support networks and the experience with the technology: the presence of a digital native caregiver. The COVID-19 pandemic is unmasking an emerging form of technology-related social inequalities: political and community interventions are needed to support the most socially vulnerable population and prevent social health inequalities.
2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行极大地加重了医疗保健系统的负担，并促使人们对数字技术的使用发生了变化。数字鸿沟是指信息和通信技术在人与人之间的不平等分配。
本研究旨在描述在意大利 COVID-19 大流行封锁期间通过远程医疗联系的痴呆症患者群体的数字鸿沟。
通过视频通话联系了 108 名认知障碍患者，以进行远程神经科评估。记录参加电视就诊的患者和护理人员的信息。
74 名患者与神经科医生（成功的电视就诊，68.5％）成功建立联系，而 34 名患者无法进行电视就诊并通过电话联系（电视就诊失败，31.5％）。在两组之间，年龄，性别和教育程度无明显差异，但年轻护理人员的成功就诊率更高：在年轻一代（儿子和孙子）的照顾下进行的电视就诊成功率更高（86％成功，14％失败），而没有年轻一代护理人员的组的成功率较低（49％成功，51％失败）。这种差异主要归因于年轻人的技术使用能力。
在我们的人群中，对数字鸿沟影响最大的因素是社会支持网络和技术经验：存在数字原生护理人员。COVID-19 大流行揭示了一种新兴的与技术相关的社会不平等现象：需要政治和社区干预措施来支持最弱势的社会群体，并防止社会健康不平等。
