■慢性荨麻疹(CU)的特征是发痒的复发风团,血管性水肿,或两者持续6周或更长时间。CU可以极大地影响患者的身体和情绪生活质量。慢性病患者越来越多地从信息和通信技术(ICT)中寻求信息以管理他们的健康。这项研究的目的是从CU患者的角度评估ICT的使用频率和偏好。
■在这项横断面研究中,从初级保健中心招募了1800名患者,大学医院或专业诊所构成UCARE(荨麻疹参考和卓越中心)网络的一部分,遍布16个国家。患者年龄>12岁,医生诊断为慢性自发性荨麻疹(CSU)或慢性诱导型荨麻疹(CIndU)。患者填写了一份23项问卷,其中包含有关ICT使用的问题,包括类型,频率,preference,和质量,答案记录在每个中心的标准化数据库中。为了进行分析,信通技术分为以下3组:一对一:短信,WhatsApp,Skype,和电子邮件;一对多:YouTube,Web浏览器,和博客或论坛;多对多:Instagram,Twitter,Facebook,LinkedIn。
■总的来说,99.6%的CU患者可以使用ICT平台,96.7%可以上网。每日,85.4%的患者最常使用一对一的ICT平台,其次是一对多信通技术(75.5%)和多对多信通技术(59.2%)。网络浏览器(72.7%)和WhatsApp(70.0%)的每日ICT使用率最高。在受教育程度较高的患者中,ICT平台的普遍使用有所增加。一对多是获得一般健康信息(78.3%)和与CU相关的信息(75.4%)的首选ICT类别。到目前为止,网络浏览器(77.6%)是获取一般健康信息最常用的ICT,其次是YouTube(25.8%)和Facebook(16.3%)。同样,对于CU特定的信息,4名患者中有3名(74.6%)使用网络浏览器,20.9%使用YouTube,13.6%的人使用Facebook。五分之一(21.6%)的患者未使用任何形式的ICT获取CU信息。与其他类别相比,从一对多信通技术获得的信息质量通常被评为非常有趣和高质量的一般健康信息(53.5%)和与信通技术相关的信息(51.5%)。
■在所分析的所有国家中,用于健康和CU特定信息的ICT使用率极高,网络浏览器是首选的ICT平台。
UNASSIGNED: Chronic urticaria (CU) is characterized by itchy recurrent wheals, angioedema, or both for 6 weeks or longer. CU can greatly impact patients\' physical and emotional quality of life. Patients with chronic conditions are increasingly seeking information from information and communications technologies (ICTs) to manage their health. The objective of this study was to assess the frequency of usage and preference of ICTs from the perspective of patients with CU.
UNASSIGNED: In this cross-sectional study, 1800 patients were recruited from primary healthcare centers, university hospitals or specialized clinics that form part of the UCARE (Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence) network throughout 16 countries. Patients were >12 years old and had physician-diagnosed chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) or chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU). Patients completed a 23-item questionnaire containing questions about ICT usage, including the type, frequency, preference, and quality, answers to which were recorded in a standardized database at each center. For analysis, ICTs were categorized into 3 groups as follows: one-to-one: SMS, WhatsApp, Skype, and email; one-to-many: YouTube, web browsers, and blogs or forums; many-to-many: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
UNASSIGNED: Overall, 99.6% of CU patients had access to ICT platforms and 96.7% had internet access. Daily, 85.4% patients used one-to-one ICT platforms most often, followed by one-to-many ICTs (75.5%) and many-to-many ICTs (59.2%). The daily ICT usage was highest for web browsers (72.7%) and WhatsApp (70.0%). The general usage of ICT platforms increased in patients with higher levels of education. One-to-many was the preferred ICT category for obtaining general health information (78.3%) and for CU-related information (75.4%). A web browser (77.6%) was by far the most commonly used ICT to obtain general health information, followed by YouTube (25.8%) and Facebook (16.3%). Similarly, for CU-specific information, 3 out of 4 patients (74.6%) used a web browser, 20.9% used YouTube, and 13.6% used Facebook. One in 5 (21.6%) patients did not use any form of ICT for obtaining information on CU. The quality of the information obtained from one-to-many ICTs was rated much more often as very interesting and of good quality for general health information (53.5%) and CU-related information (51.5%) as compared to the other categories.
UNASSIGNED: Usage of ICTs for health and CU-specific information is extremely high in all countries analyzed, with web browsers being the preferred ICT platform.