Use of mobile health (mHealth) technologies in ophthalmology patients in Alberta

Objective: This study aims to quantify the proportion of ophthalmology patients using information technology for finding information on their eye condition(s).

Design: A survey method study design was used to collect information for this study.

Participants: Over the course of 4 months, 206 consecutive patients in oculoplastics, oncology, and retina subspecialty ophthalmology clinics were surveyed.

Methods: A 14-question survey instrument was developed for the purposes of this study, focusing on 3 main domains of technology use: mobile phones, computers, and software used on either of those devices.

Results: When the entire group was analyzed, 85% stated they own a cell phone, 87% own and use a computer, and 47% reported using the internet to search for information on their eye condition. Significant differences based on patient age emerged when assessing whether patients used the internet to search for information on eye condition(s). The majority of patients younger than 60years reported having searched the internet for information (67%), whereas only 29% of patients older than 60years reported the same thing. Similar differences in the age groups also arose for other variables.

Conclusion: Overall, the majority of ophthalmology patients do not search the internet for information on eye conditions. However, when stratified into separate age groups (less than and greater than age 60 years), the majority of younger patients search the internet for information on their eye condition(s), whereas the majority of older patients do not. As a result, one can conclude that age is a significant predictive factor in the use of internet technologies for information regarding eye conditions.