Prevalence of Internet use amongst an elective spinal surgery outpatient population

Abstract

Nationally 62% of individuals in Ireland have internet access. Previous published work has suggested that internet use is higher among those with low back pain. We aimed to determine the levels of internet access and use amongst an elective spinal outpatient population and determine what characteristics influence these. We distributed a self-designed questionnaire to patients attending elective spinal outpatient clinics. Data including demographics, history of surgery, number of visits, level of satisfaction with previous consultations, access to the internet, possession of health insurance, and details regarding use of the internet to research one's spinal complaint were collected. 213 patients completed the questionnaire. 159 (75%) had access to the internet. Of this group 48 (23%) used the internet to research their spinal condition. Increasing age, higher education level, and possession of health insurance were all significantly associated with access to the internet (p \ 0.05). A higher education level predicted greater internet use while possession of insurance weakly predicted non-use (p \ 0.05). In our practice, internet access is consistent with national statistics and use is comparable to previous reports. Approximately, one quarter of outpatients will use the internet to research their spinal condition. Should we use this medium to disseminate information we need to be aware some groups may not have access.

Internet use by parents of children attending a dedicated scoliosis outpatient clinic

“…We first aimed to determine the level of internet use in our cohort of parents of children attending the scoliosis outpatient clinic. Confirming our hypothesis we found that the prevalence of internet use of almost 60 % was much greater than that previously encountered in an adult population with spinal complaints [2]. It was also higher than the 39 % prevalence in a general pediatric outpatient population reported in 2002 [9].…”

“…A questionnaire based on a previously used model by Baker et al [2] was used to collect basic demographic information and information regarding internet use and access. The new questionnaire was initially trialed on 20 parents attending the outpatient clinic to test for readability.…”

“…The aim of this research was to establish the prevalence of internet use amongst a cohort of parents attending a pediatric scoliosis outpatient clinic. Methods A previously used questionnaire (Baker et al, Eur Spine J, 19:1776-1779, 2010) was distributed to parents attending a dedicated scoliosis outpatient clinic with their children. Demographic data and details about use of the internet were collected.…”

“…Previously it has been noted that approximately onequarter of patients attending orthopedic outpatient clinics for spinal related complaints had used the internet to search for information on their condition [2]. While providing accurate and comprehensible information, internet sites can equally provide misleading or difficult to understand information that can cause undue anxiety, appropriately termed 'cyberchondria' [1,3,4].…”

Internet use by orthopaedic outpatients – current trends and practices

“…5 We have performed a cross-sectional descriptive study which aims to quantify internet usage by orthopaedic outpatients in both private orthopaedic clinics as well as public hospital outpatient clinics, bringing an up-to-date perspective to studies previously carried out in this area. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] We used surveys which targeted three main domains: 1) patient demographics; 2) general internet usage; 3) internet usage directed towards the patient's current orthopaedic condition. In this last domain we surveyed patients' perceptions of the quantity and quality of information they found related to their condition, the degree to which the information they found on the internet correlated with the information provided to them by their surgeon, and to what degree internet-based resources shaped the questions they asked of their surgeon.…”