A Survey of the Prevalence of Cell Phones Capable of Receiving Health Information among Patients Presenting to an Urban Emergency Department

BackgroundMobile devices have been shown to assist patients with comprehension of health information, yet sparse data exist on what mobile devices patients own and preferences for receiving health information.ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of mobile devices capable of receiving health information among patients/visitors presenting to an urban Emergency Department (ED).MethodsA random sample of patients/visitors ≥18 years was surveyed. The primary outcome was prevalence of mobile devices capable of receiving health information among patient/visitor units presenting to the ED. Means and 95% confidence intervals were derived for continuous data; proportions with Fisher’s exact 95% confidence intervals were derived for categorical data. Institutional review board approval was received before study initiation.ResultsSurveyors approached 1307 subjects: 68% (885) were eligible; 70% (620) agreed to participate; 4 participants were excluded, leaving 70% (616) in the final sample. Of the 616 participants, 82% stated cell phone ownership (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.79–0.85). Among cell phone owners (n = 507), 90% had the device with them (95% CI 0.87–0.92) in the ED. Of these participants (n = 456), 77% had text messaging (95% CI 0.73–0.81), 51% had Internet (95% CI 0.47–0.56), 51% had e-mail (95% CI 0.46–0.56), 39% could download audio content (95% CI 0.34–0.43), and 35% could download videos (95% CI 0.31–0.40). Even among those having an annual income ≤$20,000, nearly 80% of persons owned cell phones.ConclusionsCell phones capable of receiving health information are prevalent among patients/visitors presenting to an urban ED.