ArticleBMJ health & care informatics2023
Quantifying digital health inequality across a national healthcare system.
Article in BMJ health & care informatics, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Impact of Digitalization on European General Practice From the Perspective of General Practitioners: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Digital Inequalities in the Use of eHealth Services in European Public Health Care Systems: Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Digital health interventions for promoting adults lifestyle behaviors: who is being left behind? An evidence synthesis of social inequality.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Pooled it
- The evolution of hereditary cancer genetic counselling: mainstreaming, service redesign and patient experience in Lynch syndrome.Familial cancer · 2026Review
- A Scoping Review of the Mechanisms Influencing Socioeconomic Disparities in Outcomes of Digital Interventions for Weight-Related Behaviors.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Article
- Perspectives and Needs Regarding Remote Monitoring Technologies Among South Asian Individuals Living With Long-Term Conditions in the United Kingdom: Semistructured Interview and Focus Group Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Impact of a digital platform on genetic counselling encounters in the screening context.European journal of human genetics : EJHG · 2026Article
- Unlocking digital health: inequalities in the adoption of a patient portal.BMJ health & care informatics · 2026Article
- Palliative medicine in 2050: how will people live the last part of life?Future healthcare journal · 2026Article
- Internet Health Care Service Use Behavioral Pattern Among Older Adults and the Role of the Technology Acceptance and Social Ecological Theory Model: Cross-Sectional Survey.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Preference for Face-to-Face Contraceptive Service Delivery Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Observational
- Targeted Digital Health Intervention in End-of-Life and Hospice Care: A Scoping Review.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Effects of digital interventions on neuroplasticity and brain function of individuals with developmental disabilities: A systematic review.Internet interventions · 2025Review
- Disparities in Internet Medical Service Utilization Among Patients in Post-COVID-19 China: Cross-Sectional Study of Data From Provincial Field and National Online Surveys.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Digital Inclusion in a Scottish National Pulmonary Hypertension Population.Pulmonary circulation · 2025Article
- Digital health equity: Crafting sustainable pathways.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Rural health research in the 21st century: A commentary on challenges and the role of digital technology.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2025Article
- The impact of the digital divide on residents' healthcare consumption inequality: evidence from CFPS in China.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Perspective on the ethics of AI at the intersection of nutrition and behaviour change.Frontiers in aging · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesDigital health inequality, observed as differential utilisation of digital tools between population groups, has not previously been quantified in the National Health Service (NHS). Deployment of universal digital health interventions, including a national smartphone app and online primary care services, allows measurement of digital inequality across a nation. We aimed to measure population factors associated with digital utilisation across 6356 primary care providers serving the population of England.
methodsWe used multivariable regression to test association of population and provider characteristics (including patient demographics, socioeconomic deprivation, disease burden, prescribing burden, geography and healthcare provider resource) with activation of two independent digital services during 2021/2022.
resultsWe find a significant adjusted association between increased population deprivation and reduced digital utilisation across both interventions. Multivariable regression coefficients for most deprived quintiles correspond to 4.27 million patients across England where deprivation is associated with non-activation of the NHS App.
conclusionResults are concerning for technologically driven widening of healthcare inequalities. Targeted incentive to digital is necessary to prevent digital disparity from becoming health outcomes disparity.
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Registered trials
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