TY  - JOUR
AU  - Pouchieu, Camille
AU  - Méjean, Caroline
AU  - Andreeva, Valentina A
AU  - Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle
AU  - Fassier, Philippine
AU  - Galan, Pilar
AU  - Hercberg, Serge
AU  - Touvier, Mathilde
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/02/02
TI  - How Computer Literacy and Socioeconomic Status Affect Attitudes Toward a Web-Based Cohort: Results From the NutriNet-Santé Study
JO  - J Med Internet Res
SP  - e34
VL  - 17
IS  - 2
KW  - computer literacy
KW  - Internet
KW  - cohort study
KW  - attitudes
AB  - Background: In spite of the growing literature in the field of e-epidemiology, clear evidence about computer literacy or attitudes toward respondent burden among e-cohort participants is largely lacking. Objective: We assessed the computer and Internet skills of participants in the NutriNet-Santé Web-based cohort. We then explored attitudes toward the study demands/respondent burden according to levels of computer literacy and sociodemographic status. Methods: Self-reported data from 43,028 e-cohort participants were collected in 2013 via a Web-based questionnaire. We employed unconditional logistic and linear regression analyses. Results: Approximately one-quarter of participants (23.79%, 10,235/43,028) reported being inexperienced in terms of computer use. Regarding attitudes toward participant burden, women tended to be more favorable (eg, “The overall website use is easy”) than were men (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.59-0.71, P<.001), whereas better educated participants (>12 years of schooling) were less likely to accept the demands associated with participation (eg, “I receive questionnaires too often”) compared to their less educated counterparts (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.48-1.76, P<.001). Conclusions: A substantial proportion of participants had low computer/Internet skills, suggesting that this does not represent a barrier to participation in Web-based cohorts. Our study also suggests that several subgroups of participants with lower computer skills (eg, women or those with lower educational level) might more readily accept the demands associated with participation in the Web cohort. These findings can help guide future Web-based research strategies. 
SN  - 1438-8871
UR  - http://www.jmir.org/2015/2/e34/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3813
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25648178
DO  - 10.2196/jmir.3813
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/jmir.3813
ER  -