Use and preferences of information and communication technologies in patients with hypertension: a cross-sectional study in Ecuador

Figures & data

Table 1 General characteristics of the surveyed population (n=162)

Characteristics	Value n (%)
Age, mean (SD)	57.1±12.3
Years with hypertension, mean (SD)	8.4±7.8
Gender
Male	67 (41.4)
Female	95 (58.6)
Educational level
No education	1 (0.6)
Primary	42 (25.9)
High school	57 (35.2)
University	56 (34.6)
Post graduate	6 (3.7)
Ethnic group
Hispanic/Mestizo	147 (90.7)
African-American	2 (1.2)
Indigenous/native	1 (0.6)
White	11(6.8)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Figure 1 Frequency of use of information and communication technologies in patients with hypertension.

Abbreviation: SMS, short message service.

Figure 2 Use of ICTs to obtain information related to hypertension and interest in receiving health-related information and communicating with health care providers through ICTs.

Table 2 Interest in receiving information related to hypertension through ICTs

Variable	Mildly-moderately interested in receiving information through ICT type OR (95% CI)	Very-extremely interested in receiving information through ICT type OR (95% CI)
SMS (n=162)
Educational level^a
No Education/Pre-tertiary education	1.92 (0.68–5.44)	5.03 (1.64–15.47)
E-mail (n=162)
Age	0.91 (0.86–0.97)	0.96 (0.92–0.92)
Educational level
No Education/Pre-tertiary education	0.19 (0.05–0.71)	0.72 (0.33–1.56)
Years with disease	1.10 (1.01–1.20)	0.98 (0.92–1.05)
Web browser (n=162)
Age	0.94 (0.90–1.00)	0.96 (0.93–0.99)
WhatsApp (n=162)
Educational level
No Education/Pre-tertiary education	2.14 (0.85–5.44)	5.78 (2.60–12.85)
YouTube (n=162)
Age	0.97 (0.93–1.02)	0.95 (0.91–0.98)

Notes: Regression analysis were adjusted for variables such as age, gender, educational level, and years with disease. Bolded values are significant at 0.05 significance level. ^aReference educational level category is university/postgraduate.

Abbreviations: ICTs, information and communication technologies; SMS, short message service.

Table 3 Interest in asking health-related information through ICTs

Variable	Mildly-moderately interested in asking information through ICT type OR (95% CI)	Very-extremely interested in asking information through ICT type OR (95% CI)
SMS (n=162)
Educational level^a
No education/pretertiary education	1.32 (0.40–4.30)	2.66 (1.11–6.40)
Facebook (n=162)
Educational level
No education/pretertiary education	1.43 (0.50–4.08)	2.89 (1.29–6.47)
Email (n=162)
Age	0.95 (0.89–1.00)	0.96 (0.92–0.99)
Gender^b	4.93 (1.21–19.98)	1.61 (0.74–3.50)
Male
Web browsers(n=162)
Age	0.95 (0.88–1.01)	0.94 (0.91–0.98)
YouTube (n=162)
Age	0.93 (0.87–0.98)	0.99 (0.94–1.02)
Instagram (n=162)
Age	0.86 (0.79–0.95)	0.90 (0.84–0.97)

Notes: Regression analysis was adjusted for variables such as age, gender, educational level and years with disease. Bolded values are significant at the 0.05 significance level. ^aReference educational level category is university/postgraduate. ^bReference gender category is female.

Abbreviations: ICTs, information and communication technologies; SMS, short message service.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.