ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2025
Patients' Understanding of Health Information in Online Medical Records and Patient Portals: Analysis of the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Patient Portal Adoption Barriers in a Safety-Net Clinic: A Mixed-Methods Study With National Comparison.The Permanente journal · 2026Article
- Patient Viewing and Comprehension of Immediately Released Test Results.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Unique Digital Images as Incentives in Clinical Trials: A Digital Shift Toward Meaningful Participation.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Patient Digital Engagement With After Visit Summary in Ambulatory Care.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Quality of Informed Consent and Interface Usability in Primary Care e-Consultation: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Health information-seeking behavior in stroke patients and its relationship with Behavioral decision-making: a latent profile analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe 21st Century Cures Act mandated instant digital access for patients to see their test results and clinical notes (eg, via patient portals). Entirely using and understanding such health information requires some degree of personal health literacy.
objectiveThis study aims to assess the associations between ease of understanding online health information and various factors, including sociodemographics, health-related variables, numeracy, and technology-related factors.
methodsThis cross-sectional study used data from the National Cancer Institute's 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a nationally representative survey of US adults that tracks individuals' access and use of their health information. Data was collected from March to December 2022. The survey was conducted across various US settings using a stratified multistage sampling technique to ensure national representation. Our analysis included 3016 respondents with data for all variables of interest. We conducted bivariate and multivariate analyses to assess the odds of finding health information in online medical records or patient portals as "very easy" to understand compared with "not very easy."
resultsIn the multivariate analysis, age group (with the 35-49 years group being 1.9 times more likely compared to the ≥75 years group; P=.03), female birth sex (1.4 times more likely; P=.04), ease of understanding medical statistics (8.5 times more likely for those finding it "very easy"; P<.001), patient-provider communication score (increase of 1.1 odds per 1 unit increase; P<.001), and mode of accessing online records (1.8 times more likely via an app and 1.4 times more likely via both an app and website, P=.01 and P=.003, respectively, versus using a website alone) were significant predictors for finding health information "very easy" to understand.
conclusionsSociodemographic factors, numeracy, patient-provider communication, and method of accessing online records were associated with ease of understanding health information in online medical records or patient portals. Findings from this study may inform interventions to make patient portals and online medical records more patient-centered and easier to navigate.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.