Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jul 21, 2023
Date Accepted: Oct 14, 2023
Evaluating the French public health information service according to users’ socio-economic position and health status: a cross-sectional study protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
The increasing use of information technology in the field of health is supposed to promote users empowerment but can also reinforce social inequalities. Some health authorities in various countries have developed mechanisms to offer accurate and relevant information to healthcare system users, often through online health websites. However, the evaluation of these socio-technical tools is inadequate, particularly with respect of differences and inequalities in use by social groups.
Objective:
Our study aims to evaluate the access, understanding, appraisal and use of the French website Santé.fr by its users, according to their socio-economic position and perceived health status.
Methods:
This cross-sectional study involves the entire French population to which Santé.fr is offered. Data will be collected through mixed methods, including an online questionnaire for quantitative data and interviews/focus groups for qualitative data. Collected data will cover users' access, understanding, appraisal, and use of Santé.fr, as well as socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics, health status, and digital health literacy. A validation of the dimensions of access, understanding, appraisal, and use of Santé.fr will be conducted, followed by Principal Component Analysis and Ascendant Hierarchical Classification to characterize homogeneous users profiles. Regression models will be used to investigate the relationships between each dimension and socio-economic position and health status variables. The N'Vivo 11 software will be used to categorize interviewees' comments into pre-identified themes or emerging from the discourse and compare them with various types of interviewees to understand the factors influencing people's access, understanding, appraisal and use of Santé.fr.
Results:
Not applicable, as it is a protocol.
Conclusions:
This study would be the first in France and in Europe to evaluate a public health information service, in this case the Santé.fr website, the French Ministry of Health’s official website, according to its users’ socio-economic position and health status. The study could highlight issues related to inequalities in access to and use of digital technologies for obtaining health information on Internet. Given that access to health information on Internet is crucial for health decision-making and empowerment, inequalities in access may have subsequent consequences on health inequalities between social categories. It is therefore important to ensure that all social categories have access to Santé.fr.
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