Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2021 Oct 29;23(10):e29155. doi: 10.2196/29155.
As the world is becoming increasingly connected by the World Wide Web, the internet is becoming the main source of health information. With the novel COVID-19 pandemic, ubiquitous use of the internet has changed the daily lives of individuals, from working from home to seeking and meeting with health care providers through web-based sites. Such heavy reliance on internet-based technologies raises concerns regarding the accessibility of the internet for minority populations who are likely to already face barriers when seeking health information.
This study aims to examine the level of technology access and common modes of technology used by Korean American women and to investigate how key psychosocial determinants of health such as age, education, English proficiency, and health literacy are correlated with sources of health information used by Korean American women and by their use of the internet.
We used data from a subsample of Korean American women (N=157) who participated in a community-based randomized trial designed to test a health literacy-focused cancer screening intervention. In addition to descriptive statistics to summarize Korean American women's internet access and common modes of technology use, we conducted backward stepwise logistic regression analyses to substantiate the association between the psychosocial determinants of health and internet use.
Approximately two-thirds (103/157, 65.6%) of the sample had access to the internet, and nearly all had access to a mobile phone. The internet was the most commonly used channel to obtain health information 63% (99/157), and 70% (110/157) of the sample used text messaging. Nevertheless, only approximately 38.8% (40/103) of the sample were very confident in using the internet, and only 29.9% (47/157) were very confident in using text messaging. Multivariate analyses revealed that older age (>50 years) was associated with 79% lower odds of using the internet to seek health information (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.21, 95% CI 0.10-0.46). The higher health literacy group (19+ on Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine) had 56% lower odds of using the internet to acquire health information (AOR 0.44, 95% CI 1.13-11.18). Higher education (college+) was associated with both internet use (AOR 4.42, 95% CI 1.88-9.21) and text messaging (AOR 3.42, 95% CI 1.55-7.54). Finally, English proficiency was associated with text messaging (AOR 4.20, 95% CI 1.44-12.24).
The differences in modes of technology access, use, and confidence by some of the key psychosocial determinants, as observed in our study sample, have important implications when health care teams develop dissemination plans.
随着世界通过万维网日益紧密地联系在一起，互联网正成为获取健康信息的主要来源。随着新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情的爆发，互联网的普遍使用改变了个人的日常生活，从在家办公到通过网站寻求和与医疗保健提供者会面。这种对基于互联网技术的严重依赖引发了人们对少数群体互联网可及性的担忧，这些群体在获取健康信息时可能已经面临障碍。
本研究旨在调查韩裔美国女性的技术获取水平和常用技术模式，并探讨年龄、教育程度、英语熟练程度和健康素养等关键健康决定因素与韩裔美国女性使用的健康信息来源之间的关系，并调查这些因素与她们使用互联网之间的关系。
我们使用了参加一项基于社区的随机试验的韩裔美国女性（N=157）的子样本数据，该试验旨在测试以健康素养为重点的癌症筛查干预措施。除了描述性统计数据来总结韩裔美国女性的互联网访问和常用技术使用情况外，我们还进行了向后逐步逻辑回归分析，以证实健康决定因素与互联网使用之间的关联。
大约三分之二（103/157，65.6%）的样本可以访问互联网，几乎所有人都可以访问手机。互联网是获取健康信息最常用的渠道，占 63%（99/157），70%（110/157）的样本使用短信。然而，只有约 38.8%（40/103）的样本非常自信地使用互联网，只有 29.9%（47/157）的样本非常自信地使用短信。多变量分析显示，年龄较大（>50 岁）与使用互联网获取健康信息的几率降低 79%相关（调整后的优势比[OR]0.21，95%置信区间[CI]0.10-0.46）。健康素养较高的组（快速估计成人医学素养得分 19+）使用互联网获取健康信息的几率降低 56%（OR0.44，95%CI1.13-11.18）。较高的教育程度（大学及以上）与互联网使用（OR4.42，95%CI1.88-9.21）和短信使用（OR3.42，95%CI1.55-7.54）均相关。最后，英语熟练程度与短信使用（OR4.20，95%CI1.44-12.24）相关。
在我们的研究样本中，一些关键社会心理决定因素在技术获取、使用和信心方面的模式差异，在医疗保健团队制定传播计划时具有重要意义。
