Whether or not patients have qualms about their health data being shared depends on the purpose for sharing it, according to new research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Researchers surveyed more than 3,000 people on the "appropriateness" of health information use in hypothetical data sharing scenarios, including whether or not consent for sharing the data was obtained, whether data was used for research or marketing and whether the hypothetical study findings created abstract or specific results.
On a scale from one (not appropriate) to 10 (very appropriate), researchers obtained an average low score of 3.81 for marketing use without consent and an average high score of 7.06 for research use with consent.
In all cases, the use for the data trumped other potential concerns, such as whether those who shared data had obtained data-sharing consent first, as research use without consent ranked higher on appropriateness than did marketing use with consent.
"Although approaches to health information sharing emphasize consent, public opinion also emphasizes purpose, which suggests a need to focus more attention on the social value of information use," the authors wrote.