Preferences for Health Information Technologies Among US Adults: Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (Preprint)

Abstract

Background: Emerging health technologies are increasingly being used in health care for communication, data collection, patient monitoring, education, and to facilitate adherence to chronic disease management. However, there is also lack of studies on differences in preference for using information exchange technologies between chronic and non-chronic disease patients and factors affecting these differences. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to understand preferences and interests in use of technology for information exchange among a nationally representative sample of adults with and without chronic disease conditions and to assess whether these preferences differ according to varying demographic variables. Methods: We utilized data from the 2021 and 2014 iteration of the Health Information National Trends Study (HINTS, N=7307). We modeled negative responses using multiple logistic regressions adjusting for relevant covariates to identify independent factors associated with lowers odds of using health information technology, and therefore identify targets for awareness. Analyses were weighted for the US population and adjusted for the sociodemographic variables of age, gender, race and US census region. Results: Analysis included 7,307 participants (weighted population 230,993,888) and 3,529 participants of this sample (weighted population of 90,748,995) reported CVD, diabetes, or hypertension. In the unadjusted models, individuals with Diabetes/CVD/Hypertension were more likely to report using email to exchange medical information with their provider (Odds Ratio [OR] 1.431; 95% Confidence Interval [95% CI] 1.113, 1.838) and less likely to not use any of the technology in health information exchange (OR 0.778; 95% CI 0.618, 0.979). In unadjusted model, additional significant odds ratio values are observed. However, after adjustment, all relationships regarding use and interest in exchanging information with the provider were no longer significant. As a next step, we looked at adjusted odds ratios for demographic variables. Individuals above 65 years old (OR 2.32; 95% CI 1.55, 3.49) and Hispanics (OR 1.95; 95% CI 1.26, 3.01) were less likely to report using email to exchange medical information with their provider. Minorities were less likely to indicate they had no interest in exchanging general health tips with a provider electronically ((Hispanics OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.34, 0.88), 95% CI 0.23, 0.56), (Asians OR 0.33; )).Conclusions: Health information technology related interventions; particularly design of m-health technologies should focus more on demographic factors including race, age and region than chronic disease status to increase likelihood of use. Future research is needed to understand and explore more patient friendly use and design of m-health applications which can be utilized by variety of age, race or education/ health literacy groups efficiently to further bridge the gap in communication between patients and their provider.