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Research ArticleOriginal Research

Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences among Primary Care Patients: From the Residency Research Network of Texas (RRNeT)

Jason H. Hill, Sandra Burge, Anna Haring and Richard A. Young
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine September 2012, 25 (5) 625-634; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.2012.05.120043
Jason H. Hill
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (JHH, SB, AH); and the Family Medicine Residency Program, John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, TX (RAY).
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Sandra Burge
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (JHH, SB, AH); and the Family Medicine Residency Program, John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, TX (RAY).
PhD
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Anna Haring
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (JHH, SB, AH); and the Family Medicine Residency Program, John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, TX (RAY).
BA
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Richard A. Young
From the Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio (JHH, SB, AH); and the Family Medicine Residency Program, John Peter Smith Hospital, Fort Worth, TX (RAY).
MD
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Article Figures & Data

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    Table 1. Age Differences in Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences
    Communication Technology UseYoung Adults n = 145Middle Age n = 276Seniors n = 112Totals n = 533P
    Age, years21–3940–6465–99
    Do you have a phone?
        No phone (% no)04.44.73.2
        Cell phone or landline (% yes)100.095.695.396.8.035
    Do you have a cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)4.216.529.215.7
        Month to month contract (% yes)47.240.819.838.3
        Longer-term contract (% yes)48.642.650.946.0<.001
    Do you have the same phone number as you had a year ago?
        No cell phone (% no)6.520.933.019.8
        My number is different now (% yes)25.018.75.517.5
        Yes, my number is the same (% yes)68.560.461.562.7<.001
    Do you use text messaging on your cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)4.117.230.316.3
        No text messaging (% no)8.330.858.730.4
        Yes, I use text messaging (% yes)87.652.011.053.3<.001
    Do you have a computer at home? (% yes)74.360.447.761.6<.001
    Do you conduct Internet searches? (% yes)66.248.625.948.6<.001
    Do you look up health information on the Internet? (% yes)64.347.128.447.9<.001
    Do you use E-mail? (% yes)64.844.23347.5<.001
    Do you use instant messaging? (% yes)33.115.64.518.0<.001
    Do you use Facebook or Myspace? (% yes)57.927.95.431.3<.001
    Do you use YouTube? (% yes)46.921.72.724.6<.001
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by E-mail? (% yes)56.636.216.137.5<.001
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by text? (% yes)35.918.82.720.1<.001
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by Internet? (% yes)17.913.04.512.6.005
    Would you like receiving your own health information by E-mail? (% yes)50.334.418.835.5<.001
    Would you like receiving your own health information by text? (% yes)32.418.12.718.8<.001
    Would you like receiving your own health information by Internet (% yes)20.713.44.513.5<.001
    • Values provided as percentages unless otherwise indicated.

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    Table 2. Patient Characteristics (N = 533)
    DemographicsDescriptive Statistics
    Sex*
        Men175 (32.8)
        Women357 (67.0)
    Age, years (mean [SD])50.72 (16.90)
    Ethnicity†
        Hispanic279 (52.3)
        White166 (31.1)
        African American70 (13.1)
        Asian17 (3.2)
        American Indian8 (1.5)
    Survey language*
        English477 (90.0)
        Spanish51 (10.0)
    Insurance type†
        Private insurance149 (28.0)
        Medicare123 (23.1)
        Medicaid131 (24.6)
        County plan116 (21.8)
        Self-pay27 (5.1)
        Unknown32 (6.0)
        Workers' compensation2 (0.4)
    • Data provided as n (%) unless otherwise indicated.

    • ↵* Some missing data.

    • ↵† Participants could check more than one response.

    • View popup
    Table 3. Insurance Plan Differences in Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences
    Communication Technology UsePrimary Health Insurance SourceTotals (n = 479)*P
    Private Insurance (n = 117)Medicare (n = 91)Medicaid (n = 128)Self-Pay (n = 27)County Plan (n = 116)
    Do you have a phone?
        No phone (% no)0.95.73.905.23.6
        Cell phone or landline (% yes)99.194.396.1100.094.896.4.233
    Do you have a cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)6.021.618.511.119.515.8
        Month to month contract (% yes)20.727.354.851.943.438.2
        Longer-term contract (% yes)73.351.126.637.037.245.9<.001
    Do you have the same phone number as a year ago?
        No cell phone (% no)9.424.726.718.220.020.2
        My number is different now (% yes)8.28.221.822.723.816.8
        Yes, my number is the same (% yes)82.467.151.559.156.263.0<.001
    Do you use text messaging on your cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)7.723.620.011.119.817.1
        No, no text messaging (% no)22.251.730.418.523.330.0
        Yes, I use text messaging (% yes)70.124.749.670.456.953.0<.001
    Do you have a computer at home? (% yes)78.653.346.874.161.261.0<.001
    Do you conduct Internet searches? (% yes)73.531.935.266.745.748.2<.001
    Do you look up health information on the Internet? (% yes)67.833.339.255.644.347.2<.001
    Do you use E-mail? (% yes)70.141.833.659.339.747.0<.001
    Do you use instant messaging? (% yes)31.67.79.433.314.717.1<.001
    Do you use Facebook or Myspace? (% yes)46.29.926.648.130.230.3<.001
    Do you use YouTube? (% yes)43.66.617.237.022.424.0<.001
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by E-mail? (% yes)65.020.920.340.738.837.0<.001
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by text? (% yes)29.98.820.322.217.219.8.005
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by internet? (% yes)26.57.75.511.112.913.2<.001
    Would you like receiving your own health information by e-mail? (% yes)59.823.121.133.333.634.7<.001
    Would you like receiving your own health information by text? (% yes)25.69.921.114.817.218.8.056
    Would you like receiving your own health information by internet? (% yes)27.47.78.611.112.114.0<.001
    • Values provided as percentages.

    • ↵* Some missing data.

    • View popup
    Table 4. Ethnicity/Racial Differences in Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences
    Communication Technology UseHispanics (n = 273)Non-Hispanic White (n = 163)African American (n = 72)Totals (n = 508)*P
    Do you have a phone?
        No phone (% no)4.01.25.73.4
        Cell phone or landline (% yes)96.098.894.396.6.143
    Do you have a cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)18.89.120.615.9
        Month to month contract (% yes)43.228.742.638.4
        Longer-term contract (% yes)38.062.236.845.7<.001
    Do you have the same phone number as a year ago?
        No cell phone (% no)20.913.028.619.6
        My number is different now (% yes)18.515.718.417.7
        Yes, my number is the same (% yes)60.671.353.162.7.118
    Do you use text messaging on your cell phone?
        No cell phone (% no)19.010.421.416.6
        No, no text messaging (% no)28.136.820.029.8
        Yes, I use text messaging (% yes)52.952.858.653.6.024
    Do you have a computer at home? (% yes)52.473.863.860.8<.001
    Do you conduct Internet searches? (% yes)40.660.050.048.1<.001
    Do you look up health information on the Internet? (% yes)39.560.650.047.8<.001
    Do you use E-mail? (% yes)37.164.247.147.2<.001
    Do you use instant messaging? (% yes)14.020.624.317.5.060
    Do you use Facebook or Myspace? (% yes)25.235.841.430.8.008
    Do you use YouTube? (% yes)19.127.930.023.4.039
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by E-mail? (% yes)30.946.138.636.8.006
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by text? (% yes)18.721.222.922.1.672
    Would you like sending information to your doctor by internet? (% yes)10.813.314.312.1.607
    Would you like receiving your own health information by e-mail? (% yes)27.347.935.735.1<.001
    Would you like receiving your own health information by text? (% yes)18.017.625.718.9.292
    Would you like receiving your own health information by internet? (% yes)11.513.3020.013.3.173
    • ↵* Remaining patients checked “Asian” or “other.” They were not included in this analysis because of small sample sizes.

    • View popup
    Table 5. Logistic Regression Predicting Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences
    CharacteristicsAccessUsePreferences for …
    Cell phoneComputerInternetEmailTextReceiving EmailReceiving InternetSending EmailSending Internet
    BLOCK 1
    Age0.944*0.960*0.939*0.943*0.900*0.956*0.958*0.949*0.970†
    Male sex‡—————————
    Ethnicity (overall effect)—***§†—§—
        Hispanic0.401§0.308*0.297*0.258*—0.392*—0.434†—
        African American0.326§0.464§0.409§0.388†—————
        Asian————0.174†————
    Spanish language——0.300†0.224*0.212*————
    Insurance (overall effect)—***†*†**
        Medicare——0.386†——0.367†0.382§0.304*0.343§
        Medicaid—0.221*0.153*0.170*0.271*0.138*0.271*0.091*0.198*
        County0.294§0.535‡0.370*0.372*—0.348***0.391†0.361*0.471§
    Model χ2 (df = 9)57.2484.15136.77125.38207.5999.9149.20117.7935.46
    Nagelkerke R20.2020.2240.3390.3150.4800.2660.1800.3050.136
    Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit (P).482.900.835.232.118.935.440.596.432
    • Values provided as odds ratios unless otherwise indicated.

    • ↵* P < .001.

    • ↵† P < .01.

    • ↵‡ Sex is not significant and therefore the characteristic male sex does not contain any data.

    • ↵§ P < .05.

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The Journal of the American Board of Family     Medicine: 25 (5)
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
Vol. 25, Issue 5
September-October 2012
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Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences among Primary Care Patients: From the Residency Research Network of Texas (RRNeT)
Jason H. Hill, Sandra Burge, Anna Haring, Richard A. Young
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Sep 2012, 25 (5) 625-634; DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2012.05.120043

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Communication Technology Access, Use, and Preferences among Primary Care Patients: From the Residency Research Network of Texas (RRNeT)
Jason H. Hill, Sandra Burge, Anna Haring, Richard A. Young
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Sep 2012, 25 (5) 625-634; DOI: 10.3122/jabfm.2012.05.120043
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