Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr 5:12:1374848.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1374848. eCollection 2024.

A novel questionnaire for evaluating digital tool use (DTUQ-D) among individuals with type 2 diabetes: exploring the digital landscape

Ora Peleg  1 , Efrat Hadar  1 , Meyran Boniel-Nissim  1
Affiliations

A novel questionnaire for evaluating digital tool use (DTUQ-D) among individuals with type 2 diabetes: exploring the digital landscape

Ora Peleg et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Effective healthcare currently incorporates a patient-centric system and accessible technology for patient self-management. This study aimed to develop and validate a novel questionnaire titled the Digital Tool Use Questionnaire for Diabetes (DTUQ-D) - a screening tool identifying the type, number, and frequency of digital tools used by Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) patients with within HMOs, online, and via applications.

Methods: The questionnaire was administered to two ethnic groups and both genders. A mixed-methods approach was used. In the qualitative phase, the questionnaire was developed through phone surveys of 29 T2DM patients, two endocrinologists and two technology experts. In the quantitative phase, involving 367 participants, convergent validity, construct validity, and reliability were examined.

Results: Findings indicated that the DTUQ-D is valid and reliable, successfully identifying digital tools utilized by T2DM patients, notwithstanding variations in factor structures between ethnic groups. This questionnaire provides a foundation for future research, offering a standardized approach to evaluating digital tool usage.

Discussion: The study enhances understanding of the role of digital tools in healthcare, especially for T2DM self-management. It also can be easily adapted to assess digital tool use for other illnesses by adjusting instructions and the wording of certain items.

Keywords: DTUQ-D; digital tools; eHealth; questionnaire; type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer AT-S declared a shared affiliation with the authors to the handling editor at the time of review.

References

    1. WHO . WHO guideline on health workforce development, attraction, recruitment and retention in rural and remote areas. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; (2021). - PubMed
    1. Melles M, Albayrak A, Goossens R. Innovating health care: key characteristics of human-centered design. Int J Qual Health Care. (2021) 33:37–44. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzaa127 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cashen M, Dykes P, Gerber B. eHealth technology and internet resources: barriers for vulnerable populations. J Cardiovasc Nurs. (2004) 19:209–17. doi: 10.1097/00005082-200405000-00010, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Granja C, Janssen W, Johansen MA. Factors determining the success and failure of eHealth interventions: systematic review of the literature. J Med Internet Res. (2018) 20:e10235. doi: 10.2196/10235, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tanaka J., Ohnishi M., Hamasaki M., Imoto Y., Matsuno A., Sakurai T., et al. . Association between eHealth literacy and health education experiences and confidence regarding online health information among nurses: A cross-sectional study. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing. (2023) 41, 861–868. doi: 10.1097/CIN.000000000000102 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types