Physicians' characteristics in the usage of online database: a representative nationwide survey of regional hospitals in Taiwan.

Full Abstract

Physicians have to deal with a broad range of medical problems in clinical practice, thus making the timely acquisition of relevant information is a critical skill for physicians to improve care quality. The current national study investigates how physicians search for medical information and analyses how they use online medical databases. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted, with 457 valid returns collected. Internet-based resources (Web portals, online databases, and electronic journals) were more often accessed by physicians to look for medical information than personal or paper ones. Almost universally, physicians have accessed online databases. MEDLINE was the most frequently accessed database. Furthermore, physicians under 50 years old tended to access online databases more often than their elder colleagues (OR = 5.27, 95% CI = 1.96-14.14 for age <35; OR = 4.68, 95% CI = 2.07-10.60 for ages 35-50). In addition, physicians with faculty position were more often accessing online databases (OR = 3.32; 95% CI = 1.75-6.30). Other factors - including clinical experience, administrative position, gender, academic degree, and professional specialty - carried no significant differences. These data may assist in determining how to promote the use of online evidence-based medical information for clinical services.

Author information

Author/s: Chiu, Ya-Wen (YW); Weng, Yi-Hao (YH); Lo, Heng-Lien (HL); Ting, Hsien-Wei (HW); Hsu, Chih-Cheng (CC); Shih, Ya-Hui (YH); Kuo, Ken N (KN);

Affiliation: Division of Health Policy Research and Development, Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Informatics for health & social care (Inform Health Soc Care), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 34 (issue 3) : pp 127-35

Dates: Created 2009/08/11; Completed 2009/10/06; Revised 2009/11/17;

PMID: 19670003, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/17/2009, IMS Date: )

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