PMID- 33868846
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20231103
IS  - 2168-8184 (Print)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Electronic)
IS  - 2168-8184 (Linking)
VI  - 13
IP  - 3
DP  - 2021 Mar 14
TI  - Use of Electronic Health (eHealth) Among Saudi Type 2 Diabetic Patients and Its 
      Association With Their Diabetic Self-Management: A Cross-Sectional Study.
PG  - e13882
LID - 10.7759/cureus.13882 [doi]
LID - e13882
AB  - Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a prevalent, chronic, 
      non-communicable disease that requires continuous multidisciplinary health care. 
      Electronic health (eHealth) refers to "the transfer of health information 
      resources and health care services using different electronic platforms." This 
      may have an effect on diabetes self-management (DSM). Objectives This study aimed 
      to identify the use of eHealth among patients with T2DM as well as its 
      association with DSM. Method An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted 
      online using a newly adapted three-part questionnaire using Google Forms through 
      different social media platforms. A total of 2,228 adult Saudi T2DM patients from 
      different provinces were selected based on the non-probability voluntary response 
      sampling technique. The survey included demographic, clinical, and eHealth data, 
      and diabetic self-care management. Results The study results revealed an average 
      DSM score of 5.2/10, and 74.1% were receiving diabetes care at primary health 
      care centers. Of these, 87.1% used eHealth, mainly through Google (55.7%) and 
      other social media (12.9%), and were satisfied with the quality of health care 
      (70.4%). Moreover, 82% wanted to discuss the eHealth information with their 
      physicians, but some (34.5%) had no online access to them. eHealth dependency was 
      44.2% and was associated with a lower mean DSM (5.6 vs. 5.3; p = 0.000) with 
      significantly lower health care use (6.7 vs. 5.6; p = 0.000) and glucose 
      management (4.7 vs. 4.0, p=0.000) compared to the independent group. The DSM 
      total score was a significant predictor of eHealth dependency (OR: 1.022; 95% CI: 
      1.006-1.039; p = 0.007). Conclusion Most Saudi T2DM patients with an average DSM 
      use different eHealth resources and are satisfied with their quality. Dependency 
      to eHealth is significantly associated with lower DSM, especially for health care 
      use and glucose management, a finding that could affect patient outcomes. Still, 
      patients need to communicate with their physicians in person who should have 
      different options for remote consultation, such as telemedicine, to support their 
      patients.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2021, Abdel Nasser et al.
FAU - Abdel Nasser, Asmaa
AU  - Abdel Nasser A
AD  - Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, EGY.
FAU - Alzahrani, Razan M
AU  - Alzahrani RM
AD  - Medicine, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, SAU.
FAU - Ghandoura, Ahmed N
AU  - Ghandoura AN
AD  - Medicine, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, SAU.
FAU - Sultan, Intessar
AU  - Sultan I
AD  - Internal Medicine, Ibn Sina National College for Medical Studies, Jeddah, SAU.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210314
PL  - United States
TA  - Cureus
JT  - Cureus
JID - 101596737
PMC - PMC8043569
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - ehealth
OT  - electronic health
OT  - health care visits
OT  - self-care management
OT  - type 2 dm
COIS- The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2021/04/20 06:00
MHDA- 2021/04/20 06:01
PMCR- 2021/03/14
CRDT- 2021/04/19 06:29
PHST- 2021/04/19 06:29 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/04/20 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/04/20 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2021/03/14 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.7759/cureus.13882 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Cureus. 2021 Mar 14;13(3):e13882. doi: 10.7759/cureus.13882.