ArticleAnnals of medicine and surgery (2012)2020
Surgical patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the internet for e-patient activities in Germany and Oman.
Article in Annals of medicine and surgery (2012), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exploring the Preferences and Behavioral Trends of e-Patients in Psychosomatics Towards Telemedicine During and Post COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Analysis.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Fetomaternal Outcomes of Induced versus Spontaneous Labor in an Urban Omani Hospital.Oman medical journal · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionE-patient activities are known to impact upon the patient-doctor relationship and on surgical outcomes. In Oman, there is no published information about the e-patient. The aim of this study, conducted at two surgical sites, was to investigate surgical e-patients' use of, and attitudes towards, the Internet, and the possible impact on the delivery of healthcare. MATERIALS AND
methodsA convenience sample of 83 German and 93 Omani patients at the two surgical sites were given an in-house paper-based questionnaire, based on e-patient activities described in the literature. Descriptive statistics like means, standard deviations and frequencies were calculated.
resultsThere were many similarities in usage and attitudes. Omani patients showed much greater knowledge and usage of sites and apps, used the Internet more for health-related activities (26.9% vs. 12.0%), and had a greater proportion of their physician encounters through email (10.0% vs. 4.0%) and social media (15.2% vs. 1.8%). More Omani patients brought information from the Internet than German patients (13.5% vs. 6.0%). Patients from both countries were generally positive about bringing material from the Internet to the consultation. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionBoth sites indicated typical e-patient activity and attitudes as described in the literature. Age and type of condition (chronic vs. acute) may explain the differences to some extent, but this was not consistent. Socio-cultural differences between the two countries may have a great influence on the usage.
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