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NCT Number: NCT07010081

Using Digital Health in a Postoperative Setting After Major Surgery: Survey Study

This study aims to explore patients' use of digital services for self-management of their health following major surgery at Jessa Hospital. Besides this, the study evaluates patients' ability to process and critically assess health information during recovery, their understanding of health concepts and risk factors, and their perception of data security and control over personal health information. Additionally, the study aims to examine patients' motivation to use digital services, their access to and trust in reliable digital health resources, and how well these services meet their individual needs. Furthermore, the study assesses the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of using digital health tools in a post-operative setting, as well as evaluating the digital readiness of patients after surgery.

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Key information

Conditions

Digital Health

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Jessa Hospital

Hasselt, Limburg, 3500, Belgium

Location status: Recruiting

Location contact

Ina Callebaut, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

003211339848

About this study

Digital health technologies are transforming healthcare, offering new ways to improve patient outcomes and enhance efficiency. Remote clinical monitoring (RCM), which uses digital technologies such as wearable devices and mobile apps to monitor patients outside of the traditional healthcare settings such as a hospital, holds significant potential for supporting post-operative care, especially in the context of faster hospital discharge after major surgery. Major surgery involves procedures on organ systems, such as cancer resections, organ transplants, and lung or abdominal surgeries. However, despite their promise, the successful implementation of these technologies into clinical practice requires a thorough understanding of the perspectives of the end user, being the patient. Patients' comfort, engagement, and perceptions about digital health solutions, such as self-management tools and remote monitoring pathways, are essential to ensuring these technologies are both effective and widely accepted.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Surgical patients
  • >18 years old, Undergone major surgery at Jessa Hospital Hasselt

Exclusion criteria

  • Unable to provide informed consent or request to not participate in the study
  • Cognitively incapable of understanding the study
  • No understanding of the Dutch language

Treatment and study plan

Surveys

Procedure

Several questionnaires will be conducted once in-person to each patient after a follow-up consultation in the hospital after their major surgery

Primary outcomes

  1. Patients' understanding of comfort and engagement with using digital services for self- management of their disease

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    The patients' understanding of comfort and engagement with using digital services for self- management of their disease after major surgery will be evaluated using scale 4 of the eHLQ.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Ability of patients to use technology to process and critically evaluate health information

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    The ability of patients to use technology to process and critically evaluate health information during postoperative recovery will be evaluated using scale 1 of the eHLQ.

  2. Patients' understanding of health concepts, their health status, and risk factors

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    Scale 2 of the eHLQ will assess patients' understanding of health concepts, their health status, and risk factors during their recovery period.

  3. Patients' perception of data security and control over personal health data

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    To assess patients' perception of data security and control over personal health data in digital services, scale 4 of the eHLQ will be used.

  4. Patients' motivation to use digital services for managing postoperative health

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    Scale 5 of the eHLQ is used to examine patients' motivation to use digital services for managing their postoperative health.

  5. Patients' access to and trust in reliable digital health services

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    The sixth scale of the eHLQ will evaluate patients' access to and trust in reliable digital health services during recovery.

  6. The extent to which digital health services meet patients' individual needs and preferences

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    To assess how well digital health services meet patients' individual needs and preferences during recovery, scale 7 of the eHLQ will be used.

  7. Acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of using digital health by means of implementation outcome measures AIM, IAM, and FIM

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    To evaluate the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of using digital health in a postoperative setting after major surgery, the AIM, IAM, and FIM, respectively, will be used.

  8. Digital readiness

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    The DHRQ will be used to assess digital readiness of patients that underwent major surgery.

  9. External validation of the digital health readiness questionnaire

    Time frame: During a follow-up consultation within one year after major surgery

    The DHRQ will be externally validated against the extensively validated eHLQ.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Bjorn Stessel, MD, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+3211222107

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Jessa Hospital

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Using Digital Health in a Postoperative Setting After Major Surgery: a Prospective Single-center Quantitative Survey Study

Important dates

Study start
2025
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2027
First posted
Jun 8, 2025
Registry last updated
Oct 1, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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