BACKGROUND

Sociodemographics may be important predictors of remote care adoption and use. We investigated openness to digital health among patients with asthma during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Adults residing in the US and using a digital asthma platform (Propeller Health) were surveyed to understand patient level of comfort with health data sharing and concern with remote care. Logistic regression models assessed the relationship between baseline asthma control, sex, age, race, education, insurance, and income, with health data sharing and concern with remote care.

RESULTS

424 survey responses were analyzed (mean (SD) age: 48.4 (14.3), 66.5% uncontrolled asthma). Patients with lower (vs. higher) income and education had greater odds of being concerned: OR 1.65 (1.02,2.65), p = 0.04; and OR 2.60 (1.20,5.62), p = 0.01, respectively. Lower (vs. higher) income was associated with greater likelihood of sharing: OR 1.59 (1.03, 2.46), p = 0.03, but lower education (vs. higher) was not: OR 0.43 (0.22, 0.86), p = 0.01. Patients with uncontrolled asthma (vs. controlled) were 80% more likely to share health data, p=0.01. No other statistically significant associations were observed, but there was a trend towards increased concern among uncontrolled patients with asthma.

CONCLUSION

Insights on the relationship between sociodemographic factors and digital health openness were mixed, specifically for education and income. Patients with uncontrolled asthma were more likely to share health data and trended towards increased concern. Further research is needed to better understand digital health behaviors among vulnerable populations