Factors Determining the Use of Personal Digital Assistants Among Physicians

The objective of this study was to examine the factors that might influence the use of personal digital assistant devices (PDAs) by physicians for assistance in the delivery of their routine patient care. An Internet-based single-institution survey was done of internal medicine resident physicians. None of the baseline demographic characteristics measured were associated with whether PDAs were being used or not by resident physicians in patient care. Resident physicians who used their PDAs for medical purposes perceived more benefits associated with the use of PDAs, and fewer barriers, than did those who did not own a PDA, or owned one but did not use it for medical purposes. Among regular users of PDAs for medical purposes, greater frequency of use in patient care was associated with more positive perceptions of the devices. Some associations were also found between residents' self-reported standardized test scores and the type of information resources being used on their device. Similar to previous studies, the majority of those in this cohort owned PDAs, and most of those who owned one used it for assistance in delivery of their patient care. It is concluded that users of PDAs for medical purposes differ from nonusers in certain attitudes and opinions, and standardized test scores may correlate with different patterns of use. These results may be useful in helping medical leaders overcome barriers to more full adoption of PDAs as a tool for effective patient care.