Background: Despite substantial evidence that the public wants access to Internet-based communication with health care providers, online patient-provider communication remains relatively uncommon, and few studies have examined sociodemographic and health-related factors associated with the use of online communication with health care providers at a population level. Objective: The aim of the study was to use nationally representative data to report on the prevalence of and changes in use of...

Background: Field-testing is a quality assurance criterion in the development of patient decision-support technologies (PDSTs), as identified in the consensus statement of the International Patient Decision Aids Standards Collaboration. We incorporated field-testing into the development of a Web-based, prostate-specific antigen PDST called Prosdex, which was commissioned as part of the UK Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme. Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop a model for...

Background: The development of the Internet has created new opportunities for health care provision, including its use as a tool to aid the self-management of chronic conditions. We studied stakeholder reactions to an Internet-based “virtual clinic,” which would allow people with diabetes to communicate with their health care providers, find information about their condition, and share information and support with other users. Objective: The aim of the study was to present the results...

Background: The public is concerned about the privacy of their health information, especially as more of it is collected, stored, and exchanged electronically. But we do not know the extent of leakage of personal health information (PHI) from data custodians. One form of data leakage is through computer equipment that is sold, donated, lost, or stolen from health care facilities or individuals who work at these facilities. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to get sensitive...

Background: Research in quality of life traditionally relies on paper-and-pencil questionnaires. Easy access to the Internet has inspired a number of studies that use the Internet to collect questionnaire data. However, Internet-based data collection may differ from traditional methods with respect to response rate and data quality as well as the validity and reliability of the involved scales. Objective: We used a randomized design to compare a paper-and-pencil questionnaire with an...

Background: At-risk populations can be reached with Web-based disease prevention and behavior change programs. However, such eHealth applications on the Internet need to generate return usage to be effective. Limited evidence is available on how continued usage can be encouraged. Objective: This analysis tested whether routine email notification about a nutrition education website promoted more use of the website. Methods: Adults from six rural counties in Colorado and New Mexico, United...

Background: An increasing number of people have access to the Internet, and more people are seeking tobacco cessation resources online every year. Despite the proliferation of various online interventions and their evident acceptance and reach, little research has addressed their impact in the real world. Typically, low response rates to Internet-based follow-up surveys generate unrepresentative samples and large confidence intervals when reporting results. Objectives: The aim of this study...

Background: Nowadays people are extensively encouraged to become more physically active. The Internet has been brought forward as an effective tool to change physical activity behavior. However, little is known about the evidence regarding such Internet-based interventions. Objective: The aim of the study was to systematically assess the methodological quality and the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote physical activity by means of the Internet as evaluated by randomized...

Recently there has been a proliferation of interactive tailored patient assessment (ITPA) tools. However, evidence of the reliability and validity of these instruments is often missing, which makes their value in research studies questionable. Because several of the common methods to evaluate instrument reliability and validity are not applicable to interactive tailored patient assessments, informatics researchers may benefit from some guidance on which methods of reliability and validity...