Text messaging among residents and faculty in a university general surgery residency program: prevalence, purpose, and patient care

Abstract

Background: There is little information about the use of text messaging (texting) devices among resident and faculty physicians for patient-related care (PRC).

Objective: To determine the prevalence, frequency, purpose, and concerns regarding texting among resident and attending surgeons and to identify factors associated with PRC texting.

Design: E-mail survey.

Setting: University medical center and its affiliated hospitals.

Participants: Surgery resident and attending staff.

Outcome measures: Prevalence, frequency, purpose, and concerns regarding patient-related care text messaging.

Results: Overall, 73 (65%) surveyed physicians responded, including 45 resident (66%) and 28 attending surgeons (62%). All respondents owned a texting device. Majority of surgery residents (88%) and attendings (71%) texted residents, whereas only 59% of residents and 65% of attendings texted other faculty. Most resident to resident text occurred at a frequency of 3-5 times/d (43%) compared with most attending to resident texts, which occurred 1-2 times/d (33%). Most resident to attending (25%) and attending to attending (30%) texts occurred 1-2 times/d. Among those that texted, PRC was the most frequently reported purpose for resident to resident (46%), resident to attending (64%), attending to resident (82%), and attending to other attending staff (60%) texting. Texting was the most preferred method to communicate about routine PRC (47% of residents vs 44% of attendings). Age (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.79-0.95; p = 0.003), but not sex, specialty/clinical rotation, academic rank, or postgraduate year (PGY) level predicted PRC texting.

Conclusions: Most resident and attending staff surveyed utilize texting, mostly for PRC. Texting was preferred for communicating routine PRC information. Our data may facilitate the development of guidelines for the appropriate use of PRC texting.

Keywords: Interpersonal, and Communication Skills; Patient Care; Professionalism; communication; patient care; professionalism; text messaging.

Figure 1

Figure 1a. Domain 2: Purpose of Text Messaging Residents. Not all respondents answered every question. Values represented are of those of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=17) who responded and texted. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test. Figure 1b. Domain 2: Purpose of Text Messaging Attendings. Not all respondents answered every question. Values represented are of those of Surgery Residents (N=25) and Surgery Attendings (N=15) who responded and texted. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 1

Figure 1a. Domain 2: Purpose of Text Messaging Residents. Not all respondents answered every question. Values represented are of those of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=17) who responded and texted. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test. Figure 1b. Domain 2: Purpose of Text Messaging Attendings. Not all respondents answered every question. Values represented are of those of Surgery Residents (N=25) and Surgery Attendings (N=15) who responded and texted. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 2

Figure 2a. Domain 3: Frequency of Texting Residents. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=39) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. *Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) on two sample proportions test between the Surgery Resident and Surgery Attending groups. Figure 2b. Domain 3: Frequency of Texting Attending Staff. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 2

Figure 2a. Domain 3: Frequency of Texting Residents. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=39) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. *Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) on two sample proportions test between the Surgery Resident and Surgery Attending groups. Figure 2b. Domain 3: Frequency of Texting Attending Staff. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 3

Figure 3a. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Routine Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. *Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) on two sample proportions test between the Surgery Resident and Surgery Attending groups. Figure 3b. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Urgent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test. Figure 3c. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Emergent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 3

Figure 3a. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Routine Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. *Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) on two sample proportions test between the Surgery Resident and Surgery Attending groups. Figure 3b. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Urgent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test. Figure 3c. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Emergent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.

Figure 3

Figure 3a. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Routine Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. *Indicates a significant difference (p<0.05) on two sample proportions test between the Surgery Resident and Surgery Attending groups. Figure 3b. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Urgent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=37) and Surgery Attendings (N=23) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test. Figure 3c. Domain 4: Preferences for Texting. Preferred Method of Communicating Emergent Patient Related Care. Not all respondents answered every question. Percentages were determined based upon the number of Surgery Residents (N=38) and Surgery Attendings (N=24) who responded. There were no statistically significant differences between the Surgery Residents and Surgery Attendings groups on two sample proportions test.