Abstract
Background: Minds (Medical Information Network Distribution Service) is a database system providing clinical practice guidelines and associated medical information on the Web. We thought we are able to clarify system requirements for the Web-based database system by revealing characters of the regular users of Minds.
Methods: The subjects were registered users of Minds. The research was carried out from March to April, 2006. The requests of cooperation to the questionnaire were sent out by E-mail and the survey was done on a Web site. In the analysis we firstly searched factors related to regular access to the system by chisquare test. Subsequently, we analyzed relationship between factors that had significant differences and the regularity of the access using logistic regression model.
Results: In paramedics, significant relationship was observed in “for explanation to the patients /the family (Odds ratio=2.05)” and “satisfaction of the Web site usability (OR=3.07)” with regular access. In doctors and dentists, significant relationship was observed in each of “for explanation to the patients / the family (OR=2.13)”, “to get the latest information (OR=1.72)”, “use Minds for medical examination and treatment (OR=2.88)”, and “satisfaction of the Web site contents (OR=2.31)” with regular access.
Conclusion: We showed that those who access Minds on regular basis tend to make use of it at the scenes of medical examination and treatment. On another front, connecting to the Internet from the medical sites is difficult in many cases. For the future, we think it necessary to devise an off-line mechanism of the information providing service.
