Information and communication technology use in asthmatic patients: a cross-sectional study in Latin America

Abstract

Rapid diffusion, low cost and broad availability of information and communication technologies (ICTs) make them an attractive platform for managing care, communication and interventions in asthma. There is little information in Latin America about usage frequency of ICTs in asthmatic patients.The analysis undertaken consisted of an observational, cross-sectional study that aimed to identify the frequency and type of ICTs most often used by asthmatics. The Spanish version of the Michigan questionnaire was employed in five Latin American countries. Age and educational level was categorised. Logistic regression was performed among these groups concerning the frequency of ICT usage and the level of interest shown in seeking and receiving information about asthma.In total, 673 asthma patients were surveyed. The mean age was 43.44 years. Over two-thirds of the participants were female (68.4%). The most used ICT was the short message service (SMS) (69.9%). SMS and E-mail are useful tools for communicating (i.e. receiving and seeking information) with all asthma patients, irrespective of their age. WhatsApp (61.5%) and Facebook (32.0%) were rated as being the most interesting channels of communication for receiving information. Regression analysis showed that younger asthmatics and asthmatics with higher educational levels were most likely to use almost all forms of ICTs.ICTs are generally an attractive platform for managing care, communication and interventions to improve asthma care. SMS and E-mail were found to be the preferred ICT forms among users. However, social media forms such as WhatsApp and Facebook may also be appropriate for certain types of patient.

The use of mobile phone functionalities by patients with asthma and their desire to use for self-care purposes

“…The present findings showed that a significant number of the patients had Internet access on their mobile phones, which agrees with the results of other studies on the access of patients with asthma (2017) [ 31 ], pregnant women (2014) [ 32 ] and African–American families (2014) [ 33 ] to the Internet. In contrast, a Pew Research Center report found that Internet access rates among African–Americans were relatively low [ 34 ].…”

“…Similarly, Van de Belt et al (2013) [ 38 ] argued that less than half of Dutch people conducted online search for health-related information occasionally before visiting their doctors and after consulting with the doctor. Also, in a study by Calderón et al (2017) [ 31 ], less than half of patients with asthma used the Internet to seek information about asthma. Despite the potential benefits of searching for health information on the Internet, many patients have raised concerns about the negative effects of this searched health information on the Internet.…”

“…In the present study, the participants had their greatest use of mobile phone functionalities through the Internet search, followed by social media, to receive asthma-related information, which agrees with the results of other studies [ 32 , 38 , 42 , 43 ]. A systematic review study reported that most pregnant women used the Internet as a source of information [ 44 ], while in a recent study, patients with asthma preferred SMS over the Internet search and social media, and their reasons for this preference were the low costs and reliability of SMS [ 31 ]. In another study, Chisolm et al [ 45 ] analyzed the potential reasons for asthma and diabetes patients' use or lack of use of the Internet, and proposed the lack of time, interest, access and medical necessity as the reasons for not using the Internet, and argued that the reasons for using the Internet were its usefulness, ease of use, medical necessity, and up-to-date nature.…”

What kind of information and communication technologies do patients with COPD prefer to use? A cross-sectional study in Latin America

“…receiving and asking to physicians for information). 19 In the same way, among the COPD patients in the present study, the most frequently used ICTs were SMS, Internet, and e-mail. The second rated ICTs for receiving information was e-mail and Facebook for asking information to physicians.…”

Mobile messaging with patients

“…Sixty nine per cent of consumers across all age groups want to be able to contact a business via text,5 with several industries leading adoption of text messaging services with consumers, including retail, banking, hospitality, education, and travel 6. Within healthcare, patients generally see it as a useful addition to face-to-face encounters 78910. Meanwhile, doctors are also using digital communication channels, particularly for inter-professional communication 11…”