


I found it difficult to navigate within the site-I was getting lost Specify eligibility for home health care a Task performance times, median (IQR), minĮxecute annual cost computation procedure Analyses were performed using SPSS 15.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, Illinois), with 2-sided significance set at P<.05. A greater percentage of Hispanic (46.2%) and non-Hispanic white (44.9%) participants used the initial version than non-Hispanic black participants (9.0%), but more non-Hispanic black participants (42.9%) used the modified version than Hispanic (28.6%) or non-Hispanic white participants (28.6%) ( P<.001). No differences were found for ratings of usability or performance scores. To assess comparability, we compared performance scores, usability ratings, and characteristics of participants who used the initial (n=82) and modified (n=30) versions using χ 2 tests, t tests, and Wilcoxon tests.

6 Interrater reliability on 2 problems in a random sample of 20 participants was good ( r=0.96 and r=0.97).ĭuring data collection, changes were made to the appearance of the home page and sizing of selection buttons on the Web site content was not altered. Responses were rated by 2 investigators using a scoring sheet and through analysis of video records. Participants also evaluated Web site usability and the value of Internet health information via questionnaire. Participants were asked to use the Web site to ( 1) determine eligibility for home health care services, ( 2) select a home health agency to meet specified needs, ( 3) make a decision about enrollment in Medicare Part D based on specified criteria, and ( 4) select a drug plan and determine associated costs based on a specified medication regime. IScore indicating length of time and frequency of use of the Internet and range of Internet activities (scores range from 0 to 25 with higher scores indicating greater breadth of experience). The study was approved by the university’s institutional review board, and all participants provided written consent. Data were collected at the University of Miami between February 2006 and May 2007. To characterize the sample, data were collected on age, education, and race/ethnicity (based on self-report using fixed categories 4). Participants were enrolled consecutively 112 completed the protocol and were compensated $50 ( Table 1). Following screening, 201 were eligible for participation, 64 of whom expressed lack of interest or did not report for the study. Participants were required to be aged at least 50 years be cognitively unimpaired (Mini-Mental State Examination 2 score >26) have had computer experience (assessed via questionnaire 3) be English speaking and not have depressive symptoms or severe visual or hearing impairments. Two hundred eighteen people responded to newspaper advertisements and flyers in community and senior centers in the greater Miami area through telephone contact.
