ArticleBMC medical informatics and decision making2009
Use of the internet by patients attending specialist clinics in Sri Lanka: a cross sectional study.
Article in BMC medical informatics and decision making, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Prevalence and Predictors of Health-Related Internet and Digital Device Use in a Sample of South Asian Adults in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Results From a 2014 Community-Based Survey.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2021Article
- The Potential Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Antenatal Care as Perceived by Non-COVID-19 Pregnant Women: Women's Experience Research Brief.Journal of patient experience · 2021Article
- Internet Usage among Pregnant Women for Seeking Health Information: A Review Article.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery researchReview
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1 author.
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Abstract
backgroundThe internet is a relatively new medium of disseminating health information. Studies on Internet usage for health information are mainly done in developed countries and very few studies have been carried out in developing countries.
methodsThe Internet usage of patients who were attending specialist clinics in Teaching Hospital Karapitiya and Southern Hospital in Galle, Sri Lanka was investigated. The study was carried out on the following specialities; General Medicine, Pediatrics, General Surgery and Cardiothoracic surgery. Information was collected using an investigator-administered questionnaire while patients were waiting for a consultation.
resultsThree hundred and fifty five patients (or guardians in the Pediatric clinic) participated in the study. One hundred seventy two (48.3%) participants have heard about the Internet. There was a relationship between awareness of the Internet and age, educational level and the clinic attended. There was no difference of awareness depending on the gender or the hospital. Only three participants (0.97%) have used the Internet to find information about their disease conditions. Close relatives searched the Internet about the conditions of two participants. Altogether, the Internet was used to search information on the disease condition of five participants (1.4%).
conclusionVery low usage of the Internet for health information retrieval in this study is probably due to low awareness of the Internet and low educational level. This low usage of Internet and the associated reasons shown in this study can be generalized to Sri Lanka and probably to other low-income countries that have lower educational level than Sri Lanka.
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