Reevaluating the Digital Divide: Current Lack of Internet Use Is Not a Barrier to Adoption of Novel Health Information Technology

摘要

Improving care for a growing population of complex patients with type 2 diabetes requires developing innovative strategies for clinical management (1,2). Currently, roughly 70% of the U.S. population uses the Internet (3,4). Disparities in Internet use across social and ethnic strata, however, have resulted in the well-publicized "digital divide" (5,6). Population segments less likely to be online, such as the elderly, nonwhite race/ ethnic groups, and the poor, are also disproportionately affected by diabetes (7). It is unknown whether barriers to Internet use extend to the use of other health information technology (HIT) tools being developed to support diabetes care#