The Relationship Between the Physical Functioning of Older Adults and Their Use of a Personal Health Record: A Systematic Review

The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the impact of older adults’ (≥60 years) level of physical functioning on their use of a personal health record (PHR), and to assess the feasibility of a PHR as a modality to monitor the physical functioning of older adults. The databases MedLine, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, AgeLine, and PsychInfo were searched in April 2014 for articles published in 2000-2014. Studies were independently reviewed, with screening, data extraction, and quality assessment done by two readers (EM, CD). Thirteen qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods studies were included. These articles reported on nine different PHRs and were highly heterogeneous in methodologies, participant characteristics, and setting of use. Results indicated there is a potential to use PHRs as a platform for monitoring of physical functioning, but also identified that physical limitations, in combination with multiple other barriers, could prevent effective use of PHRs by older adults.