Do patients read emails from their physician containing tips on improving lifestyle habits? A pilot study

Introduction: Healthcare providers and organizations occasionally use electronic messages to provide information to patients. There is insufficient data on whether patients actually read the emails they receive. In this study, we aimed to assess the cooperation of patients in reading multiple information pages sent over 6 months from their diabetologist via email. Methods: Adults with non-optimally controlled type 2 diabetes received via email, once every 2 weeks for 6 months, a message containing information and tips on how to improve diabetes control through lifestyle choices. The information was provided in a format that required the recipient to actively click on a “read more” tab in order to reveal the entire text. Each email contained a short questionnaire requesting a response. Analysis compared the effect of patient variables on co-operation with reading the emails and answering the questionnaires. Main findings: 45 patients completed the study, 53.3% of them read 66–100% of the emails, 17.8% read 34–65% of the emails and only 26.7% read less than 33% of the emails. Women answered more questionnaires than men did. Answering a questionnaire on nutrition or medications correlated with reading the following email sent. Conclusions: This study is the first to demonstrate that most patients do indeed read a significant portion of emails sent by their physician. Email could be an effective means of sharing information and improving patient engagement with treatment.