Article

Access to health information is crucial to persons living with a
spinal cord injury or disorder (SCI/D). Although previous research has provided
insights on computer and Internet use among persons with SCI/D, as well as how
and where persons 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 2 VHA SCI/D Centers.
METHODS: Postal mail survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Extent of computer,
Internet, and text messaging use, information source use, and e-Health literacy
rates. RESULTS: The survey response rate was 38%.
The majority of respondents
were male (97.2%), younger than 65 years (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 e-Health
Literacy Scale score was 27.3 (standard deviation = 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 other persons 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.
CI - Published by Elsevier Inc.

Langue : ANGLAIS