Usefulness of PC communications for medical information

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: A good deal of medical information is in circulation with the great advances in communication technology. This study sought to collect and classify a wide variety of data in circulation, to determine the effects of this medical information via PC on people, to see whether people feel that it is useful, and how it can be applied clinically. METHODS: Contents of medical information in circulation were classified and analyzed from domestic PC network including Chollian, Hitel, and Unitel. The survey was conducted with 700 subjects who were given medical counsel through above communicatian networks between August 1 and September 30, 1997. They were given questionnaires for usefulness of medical information via e-mail and among these, cross-sectional study was made with 336 respondents who were feasible for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Users of medical information currently in circulation can be roughly classified into general and professional ones. Information for general user can be grouped by its contents into one for medical common sense, medical consultation, First Aid, self-diagnasis, medical insurance, drug therapy, medical test interpretation, guide information for hospital and clinic visitors. The survey showed the following responsesn: PC communication was useful(70.8%), its education efficacy was higher than other measures(62.3%), it helped for the prevention of diseases(59.8%), it was useful in the reduction of medical fee (71.4%), I'll get the web information even if charged(63.1%), it helped for the correction of mistaken medical common sense(58.8%), it helped for the understanding of medical service in a hospital(63.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Practically, PC communication can provide general users medical information in a convenient and useful way. In addition, this information can be helpful in the reduction of medical fee and prevention of diseases, and more effective in patient education than other measures.