Use of the Internet by medical doctors in Switzerland

The Online Health Information Needs of Family Physicians: Systematic Review of Qualitative and Quantitative Studies

Background

Digitalization and the increasing availability of online information have changed the way in which information is searched for and retrieved by the public and by health professionals. The technical developments in the last two decades have transformed the methods of information retrieval. Although systematic evidence exists on the general information needs of specialists, and in particular, family physicians (FPs), there have been no recent systematic reviews to specifically address the needs of FPs and any barriers that may exist to accessing online health information.

Objective

This review aims to provide an up-to-date perspective on the needs of FPs in searching, retrieving, and using online information.

Methods

This systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies searched a multitude of databases spanning the years 2000 to 2020 (search date January 2020). Studies that analyzed the online information needs of FPs, any barriers to the accessibility of information, and their information-seeking behaviors were included. Two researchers independently scrutinized titles and abstracts, analyzing full-text papers for their eligibility, the studies therein, and the data obtained from them.

Results

The initial search yielded 4541 studies for initial title and abstract screening. Of the 144 studies that were found to be eligible for full-text screening, 41 were finally included. A total of 20 themes were developed and summarized into 5 main categories: individual needs of FPs before the search; access needs, including factors that would facilitate or hinder information retrieval; quality needs of the information to hand; utilization needs of the information available; and implication needs for everyday practice.

Conclusions

This review suggests that searching, accessing, and using online information, as well as any pre-existing needs, barriers, or demands, should not be perceived as separate entities but rather be regarded as a sequential process. Apart from accessing information and evaluating its quality, FPs expressed concerns regarding the applicability of this information to their everyday practice and its subsequent relevance to patient care. Future online information resources should cater to the needs of the primary care setting and seek to address the way in which such resources may be adapted to these specific requirements.

Internet use for patient care and health research: A cross-sectional study among physicians in a teaching hospital of Eastern India

Background:

Internet is the world's largest network of information and communication services. The internet is widely used in medicine and had a significant impact on research, training, and patient care.

Objectives:

(1) To assess internet use to obtain health information for patient care among physicians of a medical college hospital. (2) To investigate the utilization of the internet during their daily practice and to know the reasons for its use and nonuse.

Materials and Methods:

A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 2 months of May and June 2015 in a Medical College Hospital of Eastern India. A convenient sample of 200 physicians was included in the study. Data regarding access of internet in workplace, time spent on the internet for medical and nonmedical purposes, opinions regarding use of the internet to update medical knowledge, obstacles that affect its use, etc., were collected. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.

Results:

It was seen that 47% doctors use laptop for accessing internet, followed by mobiles (34%). E-mail was the main purpose (41%) of internet use, followed by research (32.5%). Majority told that e-mail was the main purpose of last internet use (46.5%), followed by browsing medical resources (23%), research (15.5%), and patient care (12.5%). 97.5% agreed that they had ever browsed internet for patient care and 85.5% doctors agreed that they had obtained relevant information. 26.5% told that they need training for accessing free full-text electronic journals and 25% need training to access the sources for best clinical evidence for patient care. Other training needs were literature search (18%), downloading textbooks and other resources (15.5%), and searching internet sites for medical information (10%).

Conclusion:

Providing training for improvement of searching skills for obtaining up-to-date medical information, and evidence-based medicine from internet will improve their practice of medicine.

Use of the internet by Italian pediatricians: habits, impact on clinical practice and expectations

BACKGROUND

Medical professionals go online for literature searches and communication with families.We administered a questionnaire to members of the Italian Society of Pediatrics to assess determinants of their use of the Internet, of social platforms and of personal health records during clinical practice.

METHODS

All the 9180 members of the Italian Society of Pediatrics were invited to fill in a questionnaire concerning use of the Internet and usefulness of Internet-based tools during clinical practice. The questionnaire was administered through the SurveyMonkey® web platform. Logistic regression analysis was used to study factors affecting use and influence of the Internet in clinical practice.

RESULTS

A total of 1335 (14.5%) members returned the questionnaire. Mean age was 49.2 years, 58.6% were female. 32.3% had access to the Internet through a Smartphone. 71.9% of respondents used the Internet during clinical practice, mainly searching for guidelines and drug references. Use of the Internet during clinical practice was more frequent among younger pediatricians (OR 0.964; 95% CI 0.591-0.978), males (OR 1.602; 95% CI 1.209-2.123) and those living in Northern and Central Italy (OR 1.441; 95% CI 1.111-1.869), while it was lower among family pediatricians. 94.6% of respondents were influenced in their clinical practice by information found on the Internet, in particular younger pediatricians (OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.932-0.989), hospital pediatricians (OR 2.929, 95% CI 1.708-5.024), and other pediatric profiles (OR 6.143, 95%CI 1.848-20.423). 15.9% of respondents stated that social networks may be useful in pediatric practice. Slightly more than half (50.5%) of respondents stated that personal health records may be clinically relevant. Registrars and hospital pediatricians were more likely to perceive personal health records as useful tools for clinical practice. Additional resources pediatricians would like to access were free bibliographic databases and tools for interacting with families.

CONCLUSIONS

Italian pediatricians frequently use the Internet during their practice. One-third of them access the Internet through a Smartphone. Interaction with families and their empowerment can be improved by the use of Internet tools, including personal health records, toward which respondents show a significant interest. Though, they show a general resistance to the introduction of social networks in clinical practice.

Professional use of the internet among Saudi Arabian dermatologists: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

The internet is an increasingly important tool for physicians, but the extent to which it is used by dermatologists is unknown. We aimed to investigate the utilization of the internet by dermatologists in Saudi Arabia for medical purposes during their daily practice and to clarify the reasons for its use and non-use.

METHODS

A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to all 160 dermatologists attending the National Dermatology conference in 2007.

RESULTS

A total of 107 questionnaires were completed. Sixty-two percent of respondents had access to the internet in the workplace. The use of the internet to update medical knowledge was reported by 91%.Only 27% had internet access in consultation rooms. The majority of information retrieval occurred outside patient consultation hours (91%).Only 13% reported using the internet during patient consultation. Possible reasons included: lack of access (54%), time pressure (37%), possible interference with the physician-patient relationship (30%), and that use of the internet was too time-consuming (10%). The mean searching time used to solve a clinical problem was 34 +/- 3 minutes. Fifty-eight percent used Pubmed; however, 77% of the dermatologists had no training at all in how to use this tool.

CONCLUSION

Professional medical use of the internet is widespread among dermatologists in Saudi Arabia. Providing access to the internet in the workplace and training of dermatologists to perform effective electronic searches are badly needed to improve the professional medical use of internet, which is expected to lead to better delivery of patient care.

Use of the Internet for health information by physicians for patient care in a teaching hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria

BACKGROUND

The Internet is the world's largest network of information, communication and services. Although the Internet is widely used in medicine and has made significant impact in research, training and patient care, few studies had explored the extent to which Nigerian physicians use Internet resources for patient care. The objective of this study was to assess physicians' use of the Internet for health information for patient care.

METHOD

172 physicians at the University College hospital (UCH) Ibadan, Nigeria; completed a 31-item, anonymous, standardized questionnaire. The Epi-Info software was used for data analysis.

RESULTS

The mean age of the respondents was 31.95 years (SD 4.94). Virtually all (98%) the respondents had used the Internet; 76% accessed it from cyber cafes. E-mail was the most commonly used Internet service (64%). Ninety percent of the respondents reported they had obtained information from the Internet for patient care; of this number, 76.2% had searched a database. The database most recently searched was MEDLINE/PubMed in 99% of cases. Only 7% of the respondents had ever searched the Cochrane Library. More than half (58.1%) perceived they had no confidence to download full-text articles from online sources such as the Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI). Multiple barriers to increased use of the Internet were identified including poor availability of broadband (fast connection speed) Internet access, lack of information searching skills, cost of access and information overload.

CONCLUSION

Physicians' use of the Internet for health information for patient care was widespread but use of evidenced-based medicine resources such as Cochrane Library, Up-to-date and Clinical Evidence was minimal. Awareness and training in the use of EBM resources for patient care is needed. Introduction of EBM in the teaching curriculum will enhance the use of EBM resources by physicians for patient care.