Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Surgery. 2022 Mar;171(3):793-798. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2021.08.059. Epub 2021 Nov 27.
The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic prompted a surge in telemedicine, with the presumption that patients had computer and internet access. We sought to determine, in a population-based sample, how many Americans were using computers and the internet before the pandemic, and whether disparities existed in this.
The National Health Interview Survey is conducted annually by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is representative of the entire United States civilian non-institutionalized population. In 2018, questions were fielded regarding computer and web utilization. We evaluated sociodemographic factors associated with this.
Twenty-five thousand and forty-nine people, representing 245,842,992 in the population, responded to these questions. Of the responses, 19% stated they used a computer "never or almost never," 18% stated they did not use the internet, and 25% did not use email. Over the previous 12 months, 55% of responders stated they had looked up health information on the internet, 11% had filled a prescription online, 16% had scheduled a medical appointment on the internet, and 17% had communicated with a healthcare provider by email. Internet usage varied by region, age, race, education, family income, and insurance status, but not by gender.
As telemedicine becomes more prevalent, sociodemographic factors limiting computer and internet use may disadvantage certain segments of the population.
2019 年冠状病毒病大流行促使远程医疗激增，假定患者拥有计算机和互联网接入。我们试图在基于人群的样本中确定有多少美国人在大流行前使用计算机和互联网，以及在这方面是否存在差异。
疾病控制与预防中心每年进行国家健康访谈调查，该调查代表整个美国的非住院平民人口。2018 年，提出了有关计算机和网络使用的问题。我们评估了与这方面相关的社会人口因素。
25049 人，代表 245842992 人参与了这些问题的调查。在这些回答中，19%的人表示他们“从不或几乎从不”使用计算机，18%的人表示他们不使用互联网，25%的人不使用电子邮件。在过去的 12 个月中，55%的受访者表示他们曾在互联网上查询过健康信息，11%的人曾在线配药，16%的人曾在互联网上预约过医疗预约，17%的人曾通过电子邮件与医疗服务提供者进行过沟通。互联网的使用因地区、年龄、种族、教育、家庭收入和保险状况而异，但与性别无关。
随着远程医疗的普及，限制计算机和互联网使用的社会人口因素可能会使某些人群处于不利地位。
