Vijay V Rex, I Praveen Kumar, Kumar M Buvnesh, J Sagetha
Department of Community Medicine, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Chennai, IND.
Cureus. 2024 Aug 11;16(8):e66660. doi: 10.7759/cureus.66660. eCollection 2024 Aug.
Introduction E-health, defined as the utilization of information and communication technologies for health services, has become integral in enhancing healthcare delivery and accessibility. This study focuses on user satisfaction and perceptions of e-health applications in rural health centers, with special focus on Tamil Nadu, India. E-health technologies have proven to be effective in addressing challenges to healthcare accessibility and improving patient outcomes, at reduced costs. Despite these benefits, there is a need to understand user experiences in rural settings to optimize the implementation of e-health solutions. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 383 patients registered in a non-communicable disease (NCD) clinic and specialty clinic in the rural health center of a tertiary care hospital in Tiruvallur district. Participants were selected using a consecutive sampling method from the NCD and specialty clinic registers. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on their perception and satisfaction with e-health applications. Data was entered in (Microsoft) MS Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States) and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 25 (Released 2017; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). Results The overall mean age was 49.45 ± 7 years. Among the study participants, females constituted 57.3% compared to males who constituted 42.7%. 58.3% of the participants had comorbid conditions. More than half of the study participants were educated up to the high school level. According to BG Prasad's classification, 86.9 % of the participants belonged to middle class and below. Among the study participants, more than half of them use their smartphones as devices for internet access to use e-health applications. The study participants who had no co-morbid conditions were 3.3 times the odds of having poor perception and satisfaction when compared to the other categories (OR = 3.3, CI = 2.1 - 5.1) in using e-health applications, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.01). Conclusion This study's findings reveal that gender, socio-economic status, occupation, and the presence of comorbid illnesses play significant roles in shaping users' perceptions and satisfaction levels. This study's findings underscore the importance of tailored e-health interventions to address these barriers and enhance healthcare delivery in rural areas.
引言 电子健康被定义为利用信息和通信技术提供医疗服务，已成为改善医疗服务提供和可及性的重要组成部分。本研究聚焦于印度泰米尔纳德邦农村医疗中心用户对电子健康应用的满意度和看法。电子健康技术已被证明在应对医疗可及性挑战和改善患者治疗效果方面有效，且成本更低。尽管有这些益处，但仍需了解农村地区的用户体验，以优化电子健康解决方案的实施。
方法 在蒂鲁瓦勒尔区一家三级护理医院农村医疗中心的非传染性疾病（NCD）诊所和专科诊所登记的383名患者中进行了一项横断面研究。参与者从NCD和专科诊所登记册中采用连续抽样方法选取。使用半结构化问卷收集他们对电子健康应用的看法和满意度数据。数据录入（微软）MS Excel（微软公司，美国华盛顿州雷德蒙德），并使用IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows 25版（2017年发布；IBM公司，美国纽约州阿蒙克）进行分析。
结果 总体平均年龄为49.45±7岁。在研究参与者中，女性占57.3%，男性占42.7%。58.3%的参与者患有合并症。超过一半的研究参与者接受过高中教育。根据BG普拉萨德的分类，86.9%的参与者属于中产阶级及以下。在研究参与者中，超过一半的人使用智能手机作为上网设备来使用电子健康应用。与其他类别相比，没有合并症的研究参与者在使用电子健康应用时感知和满意度较差的几率是其他类别的3.3倍（OR = 3.3，CI = 2.1 - 5.1），且发现这种差异具有统计学意义（p = 0.01）。
结论 本研究结果表明，性别、社会经济地位、职业和合并症的存在在塑造用户的看法和满意度水平方面起着重要作用。本研究结果强调了量身定制电子健康干预措施以消除这些障碍并改善农村地区医疗服务提供的重要性。
