Citation

Hogan TP, Hill JN, Locatelli S, Weaver FM, Thomas FP, Nazi KM, Goldstein B, Smith BM. PM R 2015; 8(2): 123-130.

Affiliation

Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Health Care (CINCCH), Spinal Cord Injury Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital, Veterans Health Administration, Hines, IL, USA; Center for Community Health, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.pmrj.2015.06.443

PMID

26164352

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Access to health information is crucial to individuals living with a spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D). Although previous research has provided insights on computer and Internet use among individuals with SCI/D as well as how and where individuals with SCI/D gather health information, few studies have focused on U.S. Veterans with SCI/D.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize health information seeking among Veterans with SCI/D and to examine the association between technology use and the characteristics of Veterans with SCI/D.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Veterans Health Administration (VHA). PARTICIPANTS: Sample of 290 Veterans with SCI/D who utilize services at two VHA SCI/D Centers.

METHODS: Postal mail survey MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Extent of computer, Internet, and text messaging use, information source use, eHealth literacy rates RESULTS: The survey response rate was 38%. The majority of respondents were male (97.2%), under age 65 (71.0%), and white (71.7%). Of the respondents, 64.8% indicated that they use a computer, 62.9% reported use of the Internet, and 26.2% reported use of text messaging. The mean overall eHEALS score was 27.3 (sd=7.2). Similar to findings reported in studies focused outside the Veteran population, the most frequent source that Veterans turned to for information about SCI/D was a health professional (85.1%); this was also the most frequent source that Veterans indicated they would turn to first to get information about SCI/D (75.9%). Other frequently reported sources of information included others with SCI/D (41.0%), Internet resources (31.0%), and family and friends (27.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: Fairly high levels of computer and Internet use exist among Veterans with SCI/D. Veterans with SCI/D also have a strong preference for people - particularly health professionals and to a lesser extent peers and family and friends - as sources of information about SCI/D. These findings highlight the importance of combining technology and human interaction to meet the information needs of this population.

Language: en