Version 1
: Received: 27 September 2022 / Approved: 5 October 2022 / Online: 5 October 2022 (03:55:03 CEST)
How to cite:
Burzyńska, J.; Bartosiewicz, A.; Januszewicz, P. Digital Skills, Perceptions of Dr. Google, and Attitudes of e-Health Solutions among Polish Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Preprints2022, 2022100026. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202210.0026.v1
Burzyńska, J.; Bartosiewicz, A.; Januszewicz, P. Digital Skills, Perceptions of Dr. Google, and Attitudes of e-Health Solutions among Polish Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Preprints 2022, 2022100026. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202210.0026.v1
Burzyńska, J.; Bartosiewicz, A.; Januszewicz, P. Digital Skills, Perceptions of Dr. Google, and Attitudes of e-Health Solutions among Polish Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Preprints2022, 2022100026. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202210.0026.v1
APA Style
Burzyńska, J., Bartosiewicz, A., & Januszewicz, P. (2022). Digital Skills, Perceptions of Dr. Google, and Attitudes of e-Health Solutions among Polish Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202210.0026.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Burzyńska, J., Anna Bartosiewicz and Paweł Januszewicz. 2022 "Digital Skills, Perceptions of Dr. Google, and Attitudes of e-Health Solutions among Polish Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202210.0026.v1
Abstract
The investment in digital e-Health services is a priority direction in the development of global health care systems. While people are increasingly using the Web for health information, it is not entirely clear what is the physicians’ attitude towards digital transformation, and the acceptance of new technologies in healthcare. The aim of this cross-sectional survey study was to investigate physicians’ self-digital skills, and their opinions on obtaining online health knowledge by patients, as well as the recognition of physicians’ attitudes towards e-Health solutions. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed to emerge the variables from self-designed questionnaire, and cross-sectional analysis comparing descriptive statistics and correlations for dependent variables using the one-way ANOVA (F-test). 307 physicians participated in the study, reported using the internet mainly several times a day (66.8%). Most participants (70.4%) were familiar with new technologies and rate their e-Health literacy high, although 84.0% reported the need for additional training in this field, and reported a need to introduce a larger number of subjects shaping digital skills (75.9%) in medical studies 53.4% of physicians perceived Internet-sourced information as sometimes reliable, and in general assessed the effects of using it by their patients negatively (41.7%). Digital skills increased significantly with frequency of internet use (F = 13.167; p = 0.0001), and decreased with physicians’ age, and the need for training. Those who claimed that patients often experienced health benefits from online health showed higher digital skills (-1.06). Physicians most often recommended their patients to obtain laboratory test results online (32.2%), and to arrange medical appointments via the Internet (27.0%). Along with the deterioration of physicians’ digital skills, the recommendation of e-Health solutions decreased (r = 0.413), and lower the assessment of e-Health solutions for the patient (r = 0.449). Physicians perceive digitization as a sign of the times, and frequently use its tools in daily practice. The evaluation of Dr. Google’s phenomenon and online health is directly related to their own e-Health literacy skills, but there is still a need for practical training to deal with digital revolution.
Keywords
online health information; digital literacy; e-Health; e-Health solutions; Dr. Google
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
