@Article{info:doi/10.2196/jmir.1612,
author="Porter, Stephen C
and Guo, Chao-Yu
and Bacic, Janine
and Chan, Eugenia",
title="Health Literacy and Task Environment Influence Parents' Burden for Data Entry on Child-Specific Health Information: Randomized Controlled Trial",
journal="J Med Internet Res",
year="2011",
month="Jan",
day="26",
volume="13",
number="1",
pages="e13",
keywords="Medical history-taking; pediatrics; health literacy; computer literacy; task performance and analysis; information dissemination; health records, personal",
abstract="Background:  Health care systems increasingly rely on patients' data entry efforts to organize and assist in care delivery through health information exchange.  Objectives:  We sought to determine (1) the variation in burden imposed on parents by data entry efforts across paper-based and computer-based environments, and (2) the impact, if any, of parents' health literacy on the task burden. Methods:  We completed a randomized controlled trial of parent-completed data entry tasks. Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were randomized based on the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) to either a paper-based or computer-based environment for entry of health information on their children. The primary outcome was the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (TLX) total weighted score. Results:  We screened 271 parents: 194 (71.6{\%}) were eligible, and 180 of these (92.8{\%}) constituted the study cohort. We analyzed 90 participants from each arm. Parents who completed information tasks on paper reported a higher task burden than those who worked in the computer environment: mean (SD) TLX scores were 22.8 (20.6) for paper and 16.3 (16.1) for computer. Assignment to the paper environment conferred a significant risk of higher task burden (F1,178 = 4.05, P = .046). Adequate literacy was associated with lower task burden (decrease in burden score of 1.15 SD, P = .003). After adjusting for relevant child and parent factors, parents' TOFHLA score (beta = -.02, P = .02) and task environment (beta = .31, P = .03) remained significantly associated with task burden. Conclusions:  A tailored computer-based environment provided an improved task experience for data entry compared to the same tasks completed on paper. Health literacy was inversely related to task burden.  Trial registration:  Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00543257; http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00543257 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/5vUVH2DYR) ",
issn="1438-8871",
doi="10.2196/jmir.1612",
url="http://www.jmir.org/2011/1/e13/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.1612",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21269990"
}