Measuring the Digital Transformation

2.8. Digital transformation and health

Online resources can help people to better understand and manage their health. However, ICTs can also adversely impact physical and mental health in a variety of ways, ranging from encouraging sedentary activities to fuelling social anxiety.

In many countries, the Internet is becoming a key channel for accessing health services that can offer increased choice as well as convenience. On average, in European Union countries, 17% of individuals aged 16-74 booked a doctor’s appointment online in 2018, more than double the share in 2012 (8%). In Finland, nearly half of individuals booked an appointment online in 2018, up from 26% in 2012. Denmark and Spain also have a relatively high uptake of online booking at over 35%. A wide variety of factors influence demand and uptake of online appointment booking including population aging, which increases healthcare needs, the skills people possess, and the extent to which online booking offers a superior service compared to other channels.

Half of all individuals aged 16-74 in the OECD accessed health information online in 2018. On average, women are around one-quarter more likely to search for health information than men. Only in Korea, Turkey, Chile and Colombia do more men seek health information online. Since 2010, the share of Internet users looking online for health information has increased in almost all countries, especially in the Czech Republic, Greece, Korea and Turkey, where it more-than doubled over the period to 2018. There is also wide cross-country variation, with around twice the share of Internet users finding health information online in Finland and the Netherlands than in Brazil, Italy and Chile.

The Internet and other digital tools have dramatically increased the flow of information that workers manage - with direct effects on perceived stress levels. Research has documented new forms of information flows in a large range of work settings, such as investment analysis, managerial decision making, price setting, physician decision-making, aviation, library management and many others. These information flows occur through a range of digital media, such as e-mail, intranets and push [messaging] systems (Eppler and Mengis, 2004). The resulting information overload is associated with technostress, “a form of stress associated with individuals’ attempts to deal with constantly evolving ICTs and the changing physical, social and cognitive responses demanded by their use” (Ragu-Nathan et al, 2008; Arnetz and Wilholm, 1997; Brod, 1984). Information overload in the work place decreases job satisfaction and leads to lower reported health status (Misra and Stokols, 2012; Ragu-Nathan et al., 2008), while perceived e-mail overload has been linked to burnout and decreased work engagement (Reinke and Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014). According to OECD calculations (OECD, 2019), the increase in job stress associated with computer-intense jobs is greatest in Denmark, Luxembourg and Norway, and lowest in Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece.

Did You Know?

Women are around 20% more likely to access health information online than men.

Definitions

Job stress refers to people that report experiencing stress at work “sometimes” or more often.

Frequent computer use at work is defined as using a computer, laptop or smartphone at work more than half of the time.

Measurability

Data about online activities are typically gathered through direct surveys of household ICT usage that ask whether the respondent has undertaken a specific activity during the recall period. The OECD Model Survey on ICT Access and Usage by Households and Individuals (OECD, 2015) proposes a wide range of activities for investigation. A recall period of three months (meaning the respondent should have undertaken the online in the three months prior to being surveyed) is recommended. However, some countries use longer recall periods or specify no recall period at all. Such methodological differences impact the ability to make robust international comparisons. Data might also reflect a variety of country-specific elements, including the diffusion and ease of use of alternative channels to perform certain activities (e.g. local health services), as well as institutional aspects.

While some ICT usage surveys inquire about online information search activities, they do not currently gather any information on the usefulness or quality of that information, or the quantities consumed. Given the wide variation in the quality of information available online, such binary measures offer only a very partial initial insight into individuals’ use of online information.

Access to micro-data from the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) has enabled an analysis of digital technology use at work and links to job stress. The increase in people experiencing stress at work uses OECD estimations of the effect size of having a computer-based job on self-reported job stress. The effect size is estimated using regression analysis that controls for age, gender, income and skill level, multiplied by the number of respondents in each country that frequently use computers at their job. The resulting effect size implies that people who frequently use computers in their job are 5.8% more likely to experience stress at work and is significant at the p<0.01 level. Estimates are based on the countries in the figure. (OECD, 2019).

Individuals who booked doctors’ appointments online, 2018

Source: OECD, based on Eurostat, Digital Economy and Society Statistics, Comprehensive Database, January 2019. See 1. StatLink contains more data.

1. Data refer to individuals who used the Internet to make an appointment with a practitioner via a website.

For Switzerland, data refer to 2014.

Statlink

Individuals who have used the Internet to access health information, by gender, 2018

Source: OECD, ICT Access and Usage by Households and Individuals Database, http://oe.cd/hhind, January 2019. See 1. StatLink contains more data.

1. Unless otherwise stated, Internet users are defined for a recall period of 3 months. For Canada, Colombia and Korea, the recall period is 12 months. For the United States, the recall period is 6 months in 2015, and no reference period was specified in 2010.

For Australia, data refer to the fiscal year 2016/17 ending on 30 June.

For Brazil, data refer to 2016 instead of 2018.

For Canada, data refer to 2012 instead of 2018.

For Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Switzerland, data refer to 2017 instead of 2018.

For Costa Rica, data refer to 2017 and to individuals aged 18-74 instead of 16-74.

For New Zealand, data refer to 2012 instead of 2018.

For the United States, data refer to 2015.

Statlink

Workers who experienced job stress associated with frequent computer use at work, 2015

Source: OECD (2019), calculations based on European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015. See 1.

1. The share of workers experiencing stress at work associated with having a computer-based jobs is computed using OECD estimations of the effect size of having a computer-based job on self-reports of job stress. The effect size is estimated using regression analysis that controls for age, gender, income and skill level and then multiplied by the number of respondents in each country that frequently use computers at their job. The resulting effect size implies that people who frequently use computers in their job are 5.8% more likely to experience stress at work and is significant at the p<0.01 level. Estimates are based on the pool of countries included in this figure. Frequently using computers refers to using computers more than half of the time at work and experiencing job stress refers to experiencing stress either “Sometimes”, “Most of the time” or “Always”.`

Statlink