Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 8, 2021
Date Accepted: Feb 23, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Access to and use of internet and social media by stroke survivors participating in a national online secondary prevention trial: A cross-sectional survey
ABSTRACT
Background:
E-health applications in stroke is a growing area of research that has yielded promising results. However, little is known about how stroke survivors engage with the internet, social media and other digital technologies on a day-to-day basis.
Objective:
This study had three main objectives (1) describe the access (i.e. via desktop/laptop computer, mobile phone, tablet, webcam), frequency, and purpose (e.g. texting, calls, social media use, health information searching) of technology use among a cohort of stroke survivors; (2) investigate associations between social media use and participant factors including socio-demographics, physical function and independence in activities of daily living; and (3) investigate associations between stroke-related health risk factors and using the internet to search for health and medical information.
Methods:
This study is a secondary analysis of data obtained during a national randomised controlled trial - Prevent 2nd Stroke. Participants were stroke survivors recruited from two Australian stroke registries who completed two telephone administered surveys to collect data about demographics and stroke characteristics, health risk factors (diet quality, physical activity, blood pressure medication, alcohol intake, anxiety and depression, smoking status), physical functioning, independence in activities of daily living, and questions about what technology they had access to, how often they used it and for what purposes. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess the associations between social media use and socio-demographics, physical function and independence in activities of daily living, as well as associations between stroke-related health risk factors and using the internet to search for health and medical information.
Results:
Data from 354 participants was included in the analysis. 79% of participants used the internet at least daily. 41% were accessing social media on their phone or tablet daily, while 46% were looking up health and medical information at least monthly. Females were 2.7 times more likely to use social media, and people over the age of 75 were significantly less likely to use social media compared to those in younger age groups. Health risk factors were not found to be associated with searching for health or medical related information.
Conclusions:
The internet appears to be a viable platform to engage with some groups of stroke survivors to conduct research and to provide information and health interventions. Further research on the effectiveness of e-health and how stroke survivors want to engage with internet-based information sources and e-health interventions in real world settings is warranted.
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