Digital health technology burden and frustration among patients with multimorbidity.
Greater digital health technology use is linked to lower odds of frustration.
Digital health technology burden and frustration among patients with multimorbidity.
This study aimed to characterize patterns of digital health technology (digital health technology) use and examine the relationships between multimorbidity, digital health technology adoption, and user-reported frustration, with a focus on identifying socioeconomic and phenotypic determinants of digital health burden.
A cross-sectional analysis was conducted using nationally representative public data from Health Information National Trends Survey (Health Information National Trends Survey) 7.
using more digital health tools was linked to less frustration, not more
Among 3753 participants, 46.9% had multimorbidity.
Participants with multimorbidity reported using a greater number of DHTs on average (mean = 3.9 vs 3.6, P < .001) compared to those with a single condition, yet exhibited significantly higher rates of frustration with digital tasks (61.2% vs 54.1%, P < .001).
Both higher income and educational groups were associated with lower odds of frustration.
Phenotypic subgroup analysis further identified individuals with multimorbidity and low digital health technology versatility as the most vulnerable profile, characterized by older age, lower socioeconomic status, and the highest frustration prevalence (60.3%).
While individuals with multimorbidity use more DHTs, they experience greater frustration, particularly those with lower socioeconomic status.
However, higher engagement with DHTs (as measured by number of technology types adopted) is associated with lower frustration, suggesting that technology proficiency may mitigate burden.