[A nationwide survey on the implementation of health education programs using information technology and public health nurses' awareness of its importance in Japanese municipalities].
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the actual situation surrounding implementation of health education programs using information technology (IT-program) and assessed the related environmental factors, including public health nurses' awareness of the importance and barriers to IT-program adoption in local Japanese municipalities.


METHODS
All municipalities of 50,000 people or more (Big-town) and randomly selected municipalities of less than 50,000 people (Small-town) were surveyed. In February 2005, questionnaires about IT-programs were mailed to a total of 1,267 municipalities. Public health nurses in charge of health education responded to the questionnaire. An IT-program was defined as a non face-to-face program using information technology, such as e-mail or the internet (excluding telephone counseling), for disease prevention and lifestyle modification.


RESULTS
The response rate to the questionnaire was 70.11% in this survey. A personal computer and internet access had been installed in over 95% of municipalities. The rate of IT-program implementation was 3.9% in Big-towns and 1.10% in Small-towns. The rate of respondents who were aware of existence of IT-programs was 74.2% in Big-towns and 63.7%o in Small-towns. Respondents who felt a need for an IT-program comprised 42.5% in Big-towns and 25.0% in Small-towns, whereas about half of respondents answered, "Neither". It was expected that merits of IT-program were diversification of populations participating in health education, efficiency of data management, and individualization of programs. The barriers to IT-program adoption were lack of budget, labor power constraints and availability of an IT system.


CONCLUSIONS
At the time of the investigation, health education programs using information technology had been implemented by only few local municipalities in Japan. However, the existence of IT-programs was well known, and public health nurses had great expectations of the merits of IT for health education. To promote the implementation of health education programs using IT, it is necessary to develop an IT program that addresses public needs, then provide evidence of its utility and increase its availability.
Kai
Yuko
Y
Physical Fitness Research Institute, Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan.
Yamaguchi
Yukio
Y
D000328:Adult; D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009111:Local Government; D008297:Male; D011637:Public Health Nursing