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The Multiple Sclerosis Performance Test (MSPT): An iPad-Based Disability Assessment Tool
Published on: June 30, 2014
Why patients go online: multiple sclerosis, the internet, and physician-patient communication
M Cameron Hay1, Cynthia Strathmann, Eli Lieber
1Department of Anthropology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. hayrolmc@muohio.edu
Background:
The online information seeking of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, their reasons for doing so, and its importance for physician-patient communication have not been described.
Methods:
Patients (n = 61) presenting for the first time at an MS clinic from December 2003 to July 2005 were interviewed pre- and postappointment and administered standard measures of pain and health quality of life. Consultations were audio recorded. Quantitative data were analyzed in light of qualitative data.
Results:
Eighty-two percent of patients reported gathering medical information online before their first appointment; 36% discussed this information with their physician. Qualitative reasons for Internet information seeking and for not communicating it show some signs of wariness of health care potentially leading to nonadherence.
Conclusions:
Most MS patients are informed by online information, but are unlikely to discuss that research with physicians for reasons that may have implications for patient adherence.
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