Health care needs, eHealth literacy, use of mobile phone functionalities, and intention to use it for self-management purposes by informal caregivers of children with burns: a survey study

• Published in: BMC medical informatics and decision making Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 1 - 236
• Main Authors: Rangraz Jeddi, Fatemeh, Nabovati, Ehsan, Mobayen, Mohammadreza, Akbari, Hossein, Feizkhah, Alireza, Osuji, Joseph, Bagheri Toolaroud, Parissa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central Ltd 23-10-2023; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Analysis; Applications programs; Burns; Burns and scalds; Care and treatment; Caregivers; Cellular telephones; Children; Data collection; Data entry; Demographic aspects; Demographics; Diagnosis; Education; Electronic mail systems; Evaluation; Exercise; Health aspects; Health care; Health literacy; Health planning; Informal caregivers; Injuries; Internet; Iran; Literacy; Medical care; Medical informatics; Methods; Mobile applications; Mobile computing; Mobile Health; Needs Assessment; Pain; Physical exercise; Self-care, Health; Smart phones; Smartphones; Software; Telemedicine; Urban areas; Wound infection; Wounds and injuries; Iran
• ISSN: 1472-6947; 1472-6947
• DOI: 10.1186/s12911-023-02334-w

Abstract
Background
This study aimed to assess health care needs, electronic health literacy, mobile phone usage, and intention to use it for self-management purposes by informal caregivers of children with burn injuries.
Methods
This cross-sectional research was carried out in 2021 with 112 informal caregivers of children with burns in a burn center in the north of Iran. The data collection tools were questionnaires that included the participants’ demographics, their E-Health Literacy, their current mobile phone usage, and their desires for mobile phone use for burn care services.
Results
Most informal caregivers had smartphones (83.0%) and Internet access (81.3%). Most participants occasionally used phone calls (63.4%), the Internet (45.5%), and social media (42.9) to receive information about psychosocial disorders, infection control, wound care, pain, itch, physical exercise, and feeding. Most participants have never used some of the mobile phone functionalities to receive burn-related information, such as applications/Software (99.1%) and e-mail (99.1%). Nevertheless, most informal caregivers desire to use mobile applications for self-management purposes in the future (88.4%). The mean eHealth literacy score was 25.01 (SD = 9.61). Informal caregivers who had higher education levels, access to the Internet, and lived in urban areas had higher eHealth literacy (P < 001).
Conclusion
The current research delivers beneficial information about the healthcare needs of informal caregivers and their preference to use mobile functionality to receive burns-related healthcare and rehabilitation information post-discharge. This information can help design and implement mobile health (mHealth) interventions to enhance the self-care skills of informal caregivers.