title: Young adults on the perceived benefits and expected use of personal health records: a qualitative descriptive study.
abstract: Personal health records (PHRs) are tools that allow individuals to access, share and manage their health information online. Despite apparent interest, adoption rates remain low. There is a gap in our understanding as to what different populations of users, in particular young adults, might want from such a tool.
  
  
  
  To describe and interpret the views and expectations of young healthy adults about using an online PHR.
  
  
  
  A qualitative descriptive study was carried out. Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 29 participants (18-34 years old) from a community setting in Montreal, Canada. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed with inductivethematic analysis.
  
  
  
  With respect to how young adults viewed PHRs, three broad themes were identified: perceived advantages to using a PHR, future PHR users and concerns about PHRs. Three other overarching themes emerged from data analysis in terms of what participants expected from using a PHR: the use of the PHR for preventative health, PHR support to take more control over their health and strategies to make the PHR worthwhile. A conceptual framework of factors influencing expectations of PHR use in this population is proposed.
  
  
  
  While young adults view the PHR as beneficial, this is not enough for them to be motivated to actually use a PHR. To foster use, the PHRs need to be perceived as a health prevention tool that helps users to increase control over theirhealth status. More research is needed to understand the expectations and anticipated use of different populations in designing a person-centered tool;the proposedframework provides theoretical basis in this regard.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. quynhnguyen.mcgill@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Quynh
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. gillian.bartlett@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bartlett
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. charo.rodriguez@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Charo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. pierre-paul.tellier@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Pierre-Paul
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Tellier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D055991:Health Records, Personal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011639:Public Opinion; D036301:Qualitative Research; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: personal health records, health information technology, primary prevention, primary care, qualitative research