JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patient portals are a crucial part of modern health care services, as they provide patients with access to their personal information and enable communication with health care professionals. The usability and usefulness of these portals are decisive factors in their adoption. There is a lack of previous research on the use of patient portals in occupational health care.

Objective:

The aim of the study is to examine patients' experiences with the usability and usefulness of occupational health care patient portals and to identify the factors that influence their perceived usability and usefulness.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey in April 2024 in Finland. Out of the 3072 respondents, usability was assessed using 12 statements based on Nielsen’s attributes, and usefulness was evaluated with nine statements informed by Technology Acceptance Model. Responses were collected on a 5-point Likert scale. The survey also gathered respondents’ background information, including age, gender, education, ICT skills, satisfaction, frequency of use, and data privacy concerns. Data analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 29, applying frequency analysis and a General Linear Model.

Results:

The perceived usability of occupational health care patient portals was significantly influenced by the fear of unauthorized persons seeing the data (F(4)=4.49, P=.001), the need for guidance (F(4)=52.2, P<.001), frequency of use (F(1)=34.3, P<.001), satisfaction with the portal (F(1)=577.1, P<.001), perceived ICT skills (F(1)=12.2, P<0.001), and age, as those 50 years or younger perceived usability to be better (F(1)=10.8, P<.001). Perceived usefulness was significantly influenced by frequency of use (F(1)=9.80, P=.002) and satisfaction with the portal (F(1)=548.0, P<.001), whereas the fear of unauthorized persons seeing the data (F(4)=0.41, P=.803), need for guidance (F(4)=1.52, P=0.195), perceived ICT skills, education, gender, and age were not significant factors. Additionally, 75% of respondents found the portal easy to learn and use, and 71% felt it supported their collaboration with occupational health care. The results also showed that 52% of respondents felt the portal provided a good overview of their work ability, and 36% of respondents felt it provided a good overview of their working conditions.

Conclusions:

The study provides unique insights into occupational health care patient portals, highlighting areas for improvement, particularly in availability of work ability data and information of work conditions. However, further research is needed to enhance the portals' role in supporting occupational health and safety.