Background
Methods
Design
Setting
Participants
Recruitment
Data collection
Measures
Data analysis
Results
Description of participants
Socio-demographic characteristics | Total sample N = 229 | Finnish group n = 128a
| Greek group n = 101a
|
P
b
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Age +
| ||||
Median (min, max) | 41 (19, 77) | 38 (20, 64) | 44 (19, 77) | 0.007 |
Duration of illness (since the first contact with psychiatric services) | 0.006 | |||
Median (min, max)+
| 13 (0, 56) | 16 (0, 47) | 11 (0, 56) | |
Gender: N (%) | 0.006 | |||
Male | 132 (58) | 61 (48) | 71 (70) | |
Female | 97 (42) | 67 (52) | 30 (30) | |
Marital status: N (%) | <.0001 | |||
Single | 141 (62) | 97 (76) | 44 (43) | |
Partnership/Married | 58 (25) | 22 (17) | 36 (36) | |
Separated/Divorced | 26 (11) | 9 (7) | 17 (17) | |
Widowed | 4 (2) | 0 (0) | 4 (4) | |
Level of education: N (%) | <.0001 | |||
No formal education | 3 (1) | 3 (2) | 0 (0) | |
Primary and middle school | 73 (32) | 20 (16) | 53 (52) | |
High school | 56 (25) | 31 (24) | 25 (25) | |
College or Vocational training | 64 (28) | 49 (38) | 15 (15) | |
University degree | 33 (14) | 25 (20) | 8 (8) | |
Employment status: N (%) | <.0001 | |||
Unemployed | 51 (22) | 16 (13) | 35 (34) | |
Social welfare benefit | 14 (6) | 2 (2) | 12 (12) | |
Student | 10 (5) | 7 (5) | 3 (3) | |
Disability pension | 124 (54) | 91 (71) | 33 (33) | |
Employed (including sick leave) | 19 (8) | 5 (4) | 14 (14) | |
Other | 11 (5) | 7 (5) | 4 (4) | |
Living situation: N (%) | ||||
Own household (with partner/family) | 56 (24) | 20 (16) | 36 (36) | <.0001 |
Own household (alone) | 109 (48) | 87 (68) | 22 (22) | |
Flat share | 5 (2) | 5 (4) | 0 (0) | |
Parents’ household | 51 (22) | 8 (6) | 43 (42) | |
Supported housing | 8 (4) | 8 (6) | 0 (0) | |
Important sources of health informationc: N (%) | ||||
Internet | 121 (53) | 76 (59) | 45 (45) | 0.16 |
TV/Radio | 86 (38) | 48 (38) | 38 (38) | 0.11 |
Books, medical encyclopaedias and leaflets | 117 (51) | 61 (48) | 56 (55) | 0.02 |
Courses and lectures | 100 (44) | 41 (32) | 59 (58) | <.0001 |
Newspapers, magazines | 76 (33) | 48 (38) | 28 (28) | 0.74 |
Family, friends, colleagues | 141 (62) | 72 (57) | 69 (68) | 0.44 |
Pharmacies | 144 (63) | 71 (56) | 73 (72) | 0.04 |
Face-to-face contact with medical professionals | 203 (89) | 111 (87) | 95 (94) | 0.85 |
ICT use, ATC/IQ, and eHealth literacy
Finnish group | Greek group |
P-value
| |
---|---|---|---|
n (%) | n (%) | ||
Information and Communication Technology use (among all participants): | |||
Internet use | <.0001 | ||
Never user | 14 (11) | 60 (59) | |
Previous user | 3 (2) | 8 (8) | |
Current user | 111 (87) | 33 (33) | |
Mobile phone use | 0.01 | ||
Yes | 123 (96) | 85 (84) | |
No | 5 (4) | 16 (16) | |
SMS use | <.0001 | ||
Yes | 109 (85) | 44 (44) | |
No | 19 (15) | 57 (56) | |
Attitudes Towards Computers/Internet (among never Internet users)*: | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) |
P-value |
ATC/IQ Efficacy | 2.93 (0.81) | 3.06 (0.86) | 0.585 |
ATC/IQ Interest | 2.60 (0.67) | 3.16 (0.50) | <.0001 |
Supplementary questions+: | Median (Min, max) | Median (Min, max) |
P-value |
Willingness to find online health information if someone teaches me how to use the Internet | 4 (1, 5) | 4 (1, 4) | 0.829 |
Comfort joining an online health discussion group and exchange emails with others | 2.5 (1, 5) | 3 (1, 5) | 0.207 |
Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) |
P-value | |
eHealth literacy (among previous and current Internet users) | 27.05 (5.36) | 23.15 (7.23) | <.0001 |
Supplementary questions: | Median (Min, max) | Median (Min, max) |
P-value |
Perceived usefulness | 4 (1, 5) | 3 (1, 5) | 0.199 |
Perceived importance | 4 (1, 5) | 4 (1, 5) | 0.732 |
Comfort joining an online health discussion group and exchange emails with others | 2 (1, 5) | 3 (1, 5) | 0.492 |
Internet use patterns and activities
Internet patterns | Internet users | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
N (%) | Total N = 144 Ν (%) | Finnish group n = 111 a n (%) | Greek group n = 33 a n (%) |
P - value |
Location of Internet access:b
| ||||
Home | 133 (92) | 106 (95) | 27 (82) | 0.02 |
Apartment complex | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | – |
Family/friend’s house | 3 (2) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | – |
Library | 1 (1) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | – |
Other | 6 (4) | 0 (0) | 6 (18) | <.0001 |
Email address: | 0.28 | |||
Yes | 133 (92) | 104 (94) | 29 (88) | |
No | 11 (8) | 7 (6) | 4 (12) | |
Frequency of Internet use: | 0.03 | |||
At least once a day | 108 (75) | 85 (77) | 23 (70) | |
Every few days | 15 (10) | 9 (8) | 6 (18) | |
Once a week | 8 (6) | 7 (6) | 1 (3) | |
A few times a month | 11 (8) | 9 (8) | 2 (6) | |
Once a month or less | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (3) | |
Reasons of Internet use: | ||||
Research health-related information | 81 (56) | 61 (55) | 20 (61) | 0.57 |
Communicate with health professionals about health-related issues | 9 (6) | 5 (4) | 4 (12) | 0.21 |
Communicate with other users about health-related issues | 15 (10) | 10 (9) | 5 (15) | 0.34 |
Internet use for health-related purposesc
| 81 (56) | 61 (55) | 20 (61) | 0.56 |
Research information about other topics or issues of interest to me | 128 (89) | 98 (88) | 30 (91) | 0.67 |
Send/receive email | 109 (76) | 91 (82) | 18 (55) | 0.001 |
Buy products online | 84 (58) | 69 (62) | 15 (45) | 0.09 |
Do banking online/pay bills | 110 (76) | 101 (91) | 9 (27) | <.0001 |
Read news, papers, magazines, and books online | 102 (71) | 79 (71) | 23 (70) | 0.87 |
Play games online | 45 (31) | 26 (23) | 19 (58) | <.0001 |
Watch videos (including YouTube) | 111 (77) | 81 (73) | 30 (91) | 0.03 |
Use social networking websites and/or dating sites | 86 (60) | 61 (55) | 25 (76) | 0.03 |
Other | 28 (19) | 17 (15) | 11 (33) | 0.02 |
Easiness to locate website and to find information within that site:d
| 0.02 | |||
Always easy | 42 (29) | 30 (27) | 12 (37) | |
Sometimes easy | 75 (52) | 67 (60) | 8 (24) | |
Not so easy | 22 (16) | 13 (12) | 9 (27) | |
Difficult | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (3) | |
Very difficult | 3 (2) | 0 (0) | 3 (9) | |
Problems hardening Internet use: | ||||
Pain in limbs | 4 (3) | 3 (3) | 1 (3) | 0.93 |
Unsteady hands | 13 (9) | 9 (8) | 4 (12) | 0.49 |
Difficulty concentrating for long periods of time | 42 (29) | 31 (28) | 11 (33) | 0.57 |
Difficulty sitting for long periods of time | 29 (20) | 19 (17) | 10 (30) | 0.10 |
Eyes that tire easily | 27 (19) | 17 (15) | 10 (30) | 0.06 |
Other problems | 27 (18) | 21 (19) | 6 (18) | 0.91 |
Internet use patterns, eHealth literacy, and attitudes toward computer/ internet, multivariable analysis
Dependent Variable | Country c Odds Ratioa / Betab
| 95% CI |
P-value |
---|---|---|---|
Among current Internet users: | |||
Frequency of Internet use (daily vs. non-daily)a
| 14.52 | 5.40 to 39.03 | <.0001 |
Internet use for: | |||
Health-related purposes (yes/no)a
| 0.87 | 0.35 to 2.20 | 0.776 |
Social networking and dating websites (yes/no)a
| 0.45 | 0.15 to 1.33 | 0.150 |
Watching videos (yes/no)a
| 0.53 | 0.13 to 2.17 | 0.380 |
Among previous & current Internet users: | |||
eHealth literacyb
| 5.02 | 2.52 to 7.53 | <.0001 |
Among never Internet users: | |||
Efficacyb (ATC/IQ component) | −0.06 | −0.66 to 0.44 | 0.800 |
Interestb (ATC/IQ component) | −0.44 | −0.75 to −0.13 | 0.006 |