title: A survey of the prevalence of cell phones capable of receiving health information among patients presenting to an Urban Emergency Department.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mobile 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.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of mobile devices capable of receiving health information among patients/visitors presenting to an urban Emergency Department (ED).
  
  
  METHODS
  A 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Surveyors 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cell phones capable of receiving health information are prevalent among patients/visitors presenting to an urban ED.
authors: New York University School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors: Nancy S
authors: NS
authors: Kwon
authors: Ashley
authors: A
authors: Colucci
authors: Rajneesh
authors: R
authors: Gulati
authors: Lauren
authors: L
authors: Shawn
authors: Yusaku
authors: Y
authors: Kasahara
authors: Amal
authors: A
authors: El Bakhar
authors: Erica
authors: E
authors: Simons
authors: Stephen P
authors: SP
authors: Wall
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006786:Hospitals, Urban; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods