Investigating Health Information Technology Usage by Sociodemographic Subpopulations to Increase Community Engagement in Healthcare: An Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey

• Published in: AMIA ... Annual Symposium proceedings Vol. 2021; pp. 1029 - 1038
• Main Authors: Rajamani, Geetanjali, Kurina, Lianne, Rosas, Lisa Goldman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Medical Informatics Association 2021
• Subjects: Delivery of Health Care; Ethnicity; Humans; Income; Medical Informatics; Surveys and Questionnaires

It is well known that the US is plagued by health inequities: unjust differences in morbidity and mortality rates by sociodemographic factors. A potential method to address such inequities lies in utilizing health information technologies (HIT) to reach under-resourced populations and increase their involvement in healthcare. Previous researchers have done just this, using HIT tools to engage under-resourced communities and improve outcomes. However, it is unclear how HIT usage varies by sociodemographic characteristics. This study investigated this question through analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) and proposed tailored HIT interventions for specific subpopulations. Internet, smartphone, and wearable device usage were analyzed by age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and income; purposes of HIT usage were assessed; and logistic regression models were conducted to determine associations between purposes of HIT usage and sociodemographic predictors. Results showed that Black/African American, Latinx, and Asian populations all had significantly increased use of health videos, while participants with low educational attainment had significantly decreased use of many HIT tools. Thus, this study highlights effective interventions for specific racial/ethnic populations and showcases a need for HIT tools inclusive towards low education populations to increase their engagement in healthcare and reduce inequities.