Study title

Patients' Experiences of Using eHealth Services 2017

Dataset ID Number

FSD3322

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3322

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Kujala, Sari (Aalto University. Department of Computer Science)

Abstract

The study charted Finnish diabetes, heart and cancer patients' experiences of using eHealth services in 2017. Main themes included usefulness of the online services as well as frequency and purpose of use. Each group of patients was provided with a unique questionnaire, although most questions were repeated in all questionnaires. Responses to the common questions were combined in the data, and group-specific questions were marked with letters. The data were collected as part of the Competent workforce for the future (COPE) project funded by Academy of Finland. The purpose of the research was to establish how citizens and health care professionals can be supported in using eHealth services.

First, the respondents were asked to assess the usefulness of different eHealth services such as Omakanta.fi (personal health records and prescriptions), digital private health care services and public eHealth services. Usefulness of different online services that provide health-related information, such as Duodecim Käypähoito.fi (Current Care Guidelines, clinical practice guidelines) and Terveyskirjasto.fi (information on health, medication and care guidelines), was also examined. The respondents were asked about their purposes for using eHealth services, for example, assessment of treatment need, contacting health care professionals, and connecting with peers for support. Questions on the support and guidance provided by the public sector in the use of eHealth services were also presented.

Finally, the respondents were asked multiple open-ended questions that related to their positive and negative experiences of using eHealth services as well as the kinds of digital health services they would want to use in the future.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, age, and municipality of residence (classified), as well as whether they or their child had diabetes (diabetes patients only) or other information on their health (heart and cancer patients).

Keywords

digitization; health advice; health services; online services

Topic Classification

• Medical and health sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Health care services and policies (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Information society (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Aalto University

Time Period Covered

2017

Collection Dates

2017-02-07 – 2017-08-13

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Members of the Finnish Diabetes Association (Diabetesliitto), Finnish Heart Association and the Cancer Society of Finland (Suomen syöpäyhdistys)

Time Method

Cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Non-probability: Availability

The questionnaire was sent to members of the Finnish Diabetes Association and Finnish Heart Association in an email newsletter. 8,300 members of the Finnish Diabetes Association were sent the questionnaire and 89 persons responded. 16,322 members of the Finnish Heart Association were sent the questionnaire and 244 persons responded. The Cancer Society of Finland advertised the survey on their webpage, and 64 persons responded to the questionnaire there. In total, 395 persons responded to the three surveys.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

Questions marked with (a), (b) and (c) were each included only in the corresponding questionnaires (A. diabetes patients, B. heart patients, C. cancer patients). For these questions, the respondents whose questionnaire did not include the question were recorded with value label 9 or 99. Variable [lomake] denotes the distribution of respondents between the questionnaires. It should be noted that in question group q3, the response option "Can't say" (value label 1) was not included in questionnaire A for diabetes patients. The variable denoting municipality of residence was included as an open-ended question in questionnaire A, but the open-ended responses were combined in the data with the responses from questionnaires B and C in variable bv1.

To prevent identification of individuals, open-ended responses to the question denoting municipality of residence were removed from the data. Additionally, identifiers such as exceptional events and email addresses were removed from the open-ended responses remaining in the data. The changes were marked with [square brackets].

A question requesting for general feedback was removed from the data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Kujala, Sari (Aalto University): Patients' Experiences of Using eHealth Services 2017 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2020-03-20). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3322

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Karisalmi, N., Kaipio, J., Kujala, S. (2018). Hoitohenkilökunnan rooli potilaiden motivoinnissa ja ohjaamisessa terveydenhuollon sähköisten palveluiden käyttöön. Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare, 10, 2-3, 210-220. DOI: 10.23996/fjhw.69145

Karisalmi, N., Kaipio, J., Kujala, S. (2019). Encouraging the Use of eHealth Services: A Survey of Patients' Experiences. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics, Vol. 257, 206-211.