The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

A cross sectional survey of the UK public to understand use of online ratings and reviews of health services

A cross sectional survey of the UK public to understand use of online ratings and reviews of health services
A cross sectional survey of the UK public to understand use of online ratings and reviews of health services
Objectives: to identify the self-reported behaviour of the public in reading and writing online feedback in relation to health services.

Methods: a face-to-face cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the UK population. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were undertaken to describe and explore the use of online feedback.

Results: 2036 participants were surveyed, and of 1824 Internet users, 42% (n?=?760) had read online health care feedback and 8% (n?=?147) had provided this feedback in the last year. People more likely to read feedback were: younger, female, with higher income, experiencing a health condition, urban dwelling, and more frequent internet users. For providing feedback, the only significant association was more frequent internet use. The most frequent reasons for reading feedback were: finding out about a drug, treatment or test; and informing a choice of treatment or provider. For writing feedback they were to: inform other patients; praise a service; or improve standards of services. 94% had never been asked to leave online feedback.

Conclusion: many people read online feedback from others, and some write feedback, although few are encouraged to do so. Practice implications This emerging phenomenon can support patient choice and quality improvement, but needs to be better harnessed.
0738-3991
11690-11696
van Velthoven, Michelle H.
5de8c231-3abb-44c3-bc1b-a61f63ee724b
Atherton, Helen
9bb8932e-7bb7-4781-ab97-114613de99b1
Powell, John
0616c5bf-0ce6-48ef-9b89-45a72529beb1
van Velthoven, Michelle H.
5de8c231-3abb-44c3-bc1b-a61f63ee724b
Atherton, Helen
9bb8932e-7bb7-4781-ab97-114613de99b1
Powell, John
0616c5bf-0ce6-48ef-9b89-45a72529beb1

van Velthoven, Michelle H., Atherton, Helen and Powell, John (2018) A cross sectional survey of the UK public to understand use of online ratings and reviews of health services. Patient Education and Counseling, 101 (9), 11690-11696. (doi:10.1016/j.pec.2018.04.001).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: to identify the self-reported behaviour of the public in reading and writing online feedback in relation to health services.

Methods: a face-to-face cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of the UK population. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were undertaken to describe and explore the use of online feedback.

Results: 2036 participants were surveyed, and of 1824 Internet users, 42% (n?=?760) had read online health care feedback and 8% (n?=?147) had provided this feedback in the last year. People more likely to read feedback were: younger, female, with higher income, experiencing a health condition, urban dwelling, and more frequent internet users. For providing feedback, the only significant association was more frequent internet use. The most frequent reasons for reading feedback were: finding out about a drug, treatment or test; and informing a choice of treatment or provider. For writing feedback they were to: inform other patients; praise a service; or improve standards of services. 94% had never been asked to leave online feedback.

Conclusion: many people read online feedback from others, and some write feedback, although few are encouraged to do so. Practice implications This emerging phenomenon can support patient choice and quality improvement, but needs to be better harnessed.

Text
1-s2.0-S0738399118301587-main - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (329kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 8 April 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 April 2018
Published date: 20 July 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 486673
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/486673
ISSN: 0738-3991
PURE UUID: b76a2f20-e254-4ac4-a794-c420712f265b
ORCID for Helen Atherton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7072-1925

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 01 Feb 2024 17:39
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:18

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Michelle H. van Velthoven
Author: Helen Atherton ORCID iD
Author: John Powell

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×