Health Informatics Journal · Published 2025-10-01 · DOI 10.1177/14604582251383804
Objectives: Digital patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools, though beneficial for managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), remain underutilized in Australia. This study aimed to investigate a group of Australian patients’ readiness to engage with digital PRO tools and identify potential barriers to their implementation. Methods: We assessed 58 patients from a tertiary IBD clinic in Melbourne, Australia, using the Readiness and Enablement Index for Health Technology (ReadHy) tool, and compared the results to those from a Danish study. Results: Compared to the Danish cohort, our patients were younger with more frequent users of electronic devices, showed higher readiness across most ReadHy dimensions, except in the “heiQ8 Emotional Distress” dimension. Conclusion: These findings suggest a generally favourable environment for implementing digital PRO tools at an Australian tertiary IBD clinic, though attention should be paid to emotional well-being to improve adoption. This study also provides a framework for other centres to evaluate their patients’ readiness for digital PRO engagement.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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