ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Digit. Health
Sec. Health Communications and Behavior Change
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1579983
This article is part of the Research TopicDigital Technologies in Chronic Disease Management: Strategies for Enhanced PreventionView all 4 articles
Sociodemographic Predictors of Digital Health Adoption in Patients with Asthma and COPD
Provisionally accepted
- 1ResMed Science Center, San Diego, United States
- 2ResMed Science Center, Halifax, Canada
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Remote healthcare adoption has grown significantly in United States (US). However, better characterization of patient behaviors and comfort with the use of digital health is needed, especially among vulnerable populations. The objective of this study was to evaluate how sociodemographic characteristics may relate to the adoption of digital health among patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods: Adults residing in the US and using a digital platform for asthma or COPD management were surveyed to understand 1) level of comfort sharing health data with their healthcare providers and 2) the presence of remote care concerns, specifically clinical, technological, privacy and financial concerns. Multivariable logistic regression models assessed the relationship between baseline disease status, sex, age, race, education, insurance, and income, with health data sharing patterns and areas of concern with remote care. Results: About one third of survey respondents reported sharing health data with their provider, and most respondents had at least one concern in receiving remote care, with clinical and privacy concerns being the most frequently reported. However, attitudes and behaviors toward virtual health delivery were mixed. Patients with lower income were 65% more likely to share any health data (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.13 -2.43, p = 0.0104), but were also more likely to report at least one concern on virtual healthcare delivery. White patients (versus non-white) were 2.5 times more likely to report clinical concerns when obtaining remote care p = 0.0001). Discussion: Patterns of data sharing and concerns with remote care varied across sociodemographic predictors, sometimes in opposing ways. These learnings highlight the need for further research, including moderating and mediating factors like social support, health literacy, and rurality, to uncover the real-world use and impact of digital health services at a population level.
Keywords: Digital health1, Social Determinants of Health2, remote care3, Asthma4, COPD5
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 03 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tellez, Boers, Kaye, Vuong and Barrett. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniela Tellez, ResMed Science Center, San Diego, United States
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