Increasing utilization of Internet-based resources following efforts to promote evidence-based medicine: a national study in Taiwan

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Research Article

Heng-Lien Lo¹  Ken N Kuo¹  Chiehfeng Chen²  Yi-Hao Weng³  Chun-Yuh Yang⁴  Ya-Hui Shih⁵  Ya-Wen Chiu⁶ 

[1] Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan;Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan;Center for Evidence-Based Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan;Master Program in Global Health and Development, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University,, Taipei, Taiwan;Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Taipei Medical University Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan;Department of Public Health, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan;Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan;Division of Preventive Medicine and Health Services Research, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan;Master Program in Global Health and Development, College of Public Health and Nutrition, Taipei Medical University,, Taipei, Taiwan;

关键词: Medical Information;    Regional Hospital;    Online Database;    Faculty Position;    Electronic Journal;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6947-13-4

 received in 2012-09-18, accepted in 2012-12-27,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSince the beginning of 2007, the National Health Research Institutes has been promoting the dissemination of evidence-based medicine (EBM). The current study examined longitudinal trends of behaviors in how hospital-based physicians and nurses have searched for medical information during the spread of EBM.MethodsCross-sectional postal questionnaire surveys were conducted in nationally representative regional hospitals of Taiwan thrice in 2007, 2009, and 2011. Demographic data were gathered concerning gender, age, working experience, teaching appointment, academic degree, and administrative position. Linear and logistic regression models were used to examine predictors and changes over time.ResultsData from physicians and nurses were collected in 2007 (n = 1156), 2009 (n = 2975), and 2011 (n = 3999). There were significant increases in the use of four Internet-based resources – Web portals, online databases, electronic journals, and electronic books – across the three survey years among physicians and nurses (p < 0.001). Access to textbooks and printed journals, however, did not change over the 4-year study period. In addition, there were significant relationships between the usage of Internet-based resources and users’ characteristics. Age and faculty position were important predictors in relation to the usage among physicians and nurses, while academic degree served as a critical factor among nurses only.ConclusionsPhysicians and nurses used a variety of sources to look for medical information. There was a steady increase in use of Internet-based resources during the diffusion period of EBM. The findings highlight the importance of the Internet as a prominent source of medical information for main healthcare professionals.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Weng et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.