Table 2.

Effects of receiving health information in web-based environment for older adults.

Study	Satisfaction	Perceived harm	Quality of life	Health care use
Alpert et al (2016) [39]	Patients found the portal useful for instantly accessing medical information. This feature accounted for more than half of the positive incidents recorded. Patients appreciated receiving laboratory test	A total of 11% of negative incidents were because of patients having difficulty interpreting laboratory test results. Patients were concerned when information was incorrect or not updated. There were more negative incidents (n=82, 72.6%) than positive incidents (n=31, 27.4%)	Physicians (n=5, 56%) suggested that the portal made patients feel empowered	NSa
Irizarry et al (2017) [44]	A total of 87% (n=20) of participants generally felt that the patient portal was useful. Participants with both low and high health literacy expressed interest in portal training. Participants who had experienced chronic illness praised the convenience of web-based laboratory results	57% of participants (n=13) had anxiety and frustrations about using technology because of their perceived lack of technological skills. This caused them to rely on family members to use the patient portal	NS	NS
Loh et al (2018) [37]	Most patients (n=10, 63%) and caregivers (n=8, 73%) enjoyed using the eHealth app to connect with their care providers and manage their health. Most patients or caregivers found the health app easy to use	One patient (6%) suggested that the app may be difficult for someone with less experience using technology	25% (4/16) of patients commented that the app would be most useful for patients living alone	NS
Nahm et al (2019) [41]	NS	NS	Patient portal training improved user health decision-making, patient-provider communication, and eHealth literacy. At 4 months after patient portal training, changes in self-efficacy (P=.02) and patient portal usage (P=.03) were significant	NS
Portz et al (2019) [38]	Users suggested the patient portal was useful for accessing health information and communicating with their health care providers	Users were anxious that program updates would cause the portal to become unfamiliar or too difficult to use	Users believed the patient portal saved them time and money	NS
Smallwood et al (2017) [42]	Participants were able to complete the web-based decision aid with minimal assistance. Subjects who used the decision aid compared with those who did not use it felt more prepared to make decisions about their treatment (P<.001)	Some patients (n=5, 17.2%) incorrectly entered information into the decision tool	NS	NS
Toscos et al (2016) [45]	The mean activation of participants was of the highest possible level (level 4) throughout the study	NS	Patient activation was higher in portal users, but not statistically significant. Portal users showed health improvements at 12 months in HbA1cb, LDLc, SBPd, and DBPe, but only HbA1c (−0.19; P=.005) was statistically significant. BMI was unchanged throughout the study	NS

^aNS: not studied.

^bHbA_1c: glycated hemoglobin A1c.

^cLDL: low-density lipoprotein.

^dSBP: spontaneous bacterial peritonitis.

^eDBP: diastolic blood pressure.