Screening the digital skills of patients in geriatric rehabilitation: a multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Digitalization in geriatric rehabilitation presents unique challenges, making it essential to align eHealth solutions with patients' digital skills. The Quickscan Digital Skills (QDS) is a tool designed to help healthcare professionals match eHealth interventions to individual skill levels.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the applicability of the QDS by comparing it to self-reported digital skills, and to gain insight into the digital skills of patients in geriatric rehabilitation.

METHODS: In this multicenter cross-sectional study, participants from 13 geriatric rehabilitation centers in the Netherlands completed a survey including demographic questions, the QDS, and a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for self-reported digital skills. Participants were categorized into three skill levels (beginner, intermediate, and experienced) based on cutoff points in QDS scores. Cutoff points were pre-determined guided by the information provided on the QDS. Descriptive statistics for median age and frequencies for skill levels were calculated. Comparative analysis using a Kruskal-Wallis test assessed differences between QDS groups and NRS within these groups, and Spearman's rank-order correlation examined the relationship between the two measures. To gain more insight into the different skill levels between groups data was visualized and associations between age, gender and digital skill level were examined using ordinal logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS: A total of 463 patients (median age 78, IQR = 12; 60.9% female) participated. Based on QDS scores, 42.1% were classified as beginners, 19.4% as intermediates, and 38.4% as experienced users. A moderate positive correlation was found between QDS and NRS scores. Digital skills generally declined with age: 69.8% of participants under 65 were experienced users, compared to only 13.2% of those over 91. A logistic regression analysis showed that increasing age was significantly associated with lower digital skill levels OR = 0.93 (95% CI 0.92-0.95), p < .001. The association between age and digital skills does not differ between males and females.

CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the QDS is a promising and practical screening tool for assessing digital skills in geriatric rehabilitation. Self-reported digital skills with a NRS do not capture the differentiation in assessed abilities by the QDS. The QDS could be a practical tool for identifying digital skill levels in geriatric rehabilitation and can support more personalized eHealth implementation. Further research should explore the parametric properties of the QDS, and how the scores relate to actual eHealth use.