Current awareness and influencing factors regarding digital out-of-hospital health monitoring among patients after gastrointestinal surgery: A cross-sectional study

doi:10.4240/wjgs.126759

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Publication Name

World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

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1948-9366

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Observational Study

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2026; 18(11): 126759
Published online Nov 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.126759

Current awareness and influencing factors regarding digital out-of-hospital health monitoring among patients after gastrointestinal surgery: A cross-sectional study

Qi Gao, Xiang-Ru Niu, Rong Yang, Ke-Zhou Yang, Rui-Yun Wang

Qi Gao, Xiang-Ru Niu, Ke-Zhou Yang, Department of Nursing, Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China

Rong Yang, Department of Medical Affairs, Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China

Rui-Yun Wang, Department of Ophthalmology & Otorhinolaryngology, Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China

Co-first authors: Qi Gao and Xiang-Ru Niu.

Author contributions: Gao Q and Niu XR contribute equally to this study as co-first authors; Gao Q was responsible for conceptualization, research design, manuscript writing, project administration, final revision of the manuscript; Niu XR was responsible for data collection, data analysis, manuscript drafting, literature retrieval; Yang R was responsible for ethical review consultation, data validation, critical review of the manuscript; Yang KZ was responsible for patient follow-up, resource support, partial data sorting; and Wang RY was responsible for clinical case provision, manuscript revision, expert opinion consultation.

AI contribution statement: During the preparation of this work, the authors used DeepL and Grammarly for language translation and English grammar polishing. All AI-generated content was reviewed, revised, and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the final content. The AI tools were not involved in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, or conclusions.

Supported by 2024 Zhuhai Social Development Science and Technology Program, No. 2420004000320; 2024 Zhuhai Medical Research Project, No. 2420009000084; and 2023 Internal Research Project of Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, No. 202304.

Institutional review board statement: The research was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (Approval No. 2024-03-038-E01).

Informed consent statement: All research participants or their legal guardians provided written informed consent prior to study registration.

Conflict-of-interest statement: No conflict of interest is associated with this work.

STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.

Data sharing statement: No other data available.

Corresponding author: Qi Gao, Chief Nurse, Department of Nursing, Zhuhai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, No. 208 Yuehua Road, Gongbei, Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai 519000, Guangdong Province, China. gaoqi110522@163.com

Received: August 28, 2026
Revised: September 21, 2026
Accepted: November 9, 2026
Published online: November 27, 2026
Processing time: 75 Days and 20.9 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Postoperative patients in gastrointestinal surgery often face interrupted professional care and insufficient rehabilitation guidance after discharge. Digital out-of-hospital health monitoring can provide remote monitoring and abnormality alerts, yet its effectiveness depends on patients' adequate cognition of the service. Currently, there is a lack of research on the cognitive status and influencing factors in this population.

AIM

To investigate the cognitive status of digital out-of-hospital health monitoring among postoperative patients in gastrointestinal surgery and analyze its influencing factors.

METHODS

A convenience sampling method was used to select 126 postoperative patients discharged from the gastrointestinal surgery department of a tertiary hospital. A self-designed cognitive questionnaire (4 dimensions, 15 items, Likert 5-point scale) was administered. A t test, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression were used to analyze influencing factors.

RESULTS

The mean item score of cognition among the 126 patients was (3.02 ± 0.43), indicating a moderately low level. The value cognition dimension scored the highest, while the concern cognition dimension scored the lowest. Univariate analysis showed that age, education level, years of smartphone use, and health app use experience significantly affected the total cognitive score (all P < 0.05). Multiple regression analysis revealed that years of smartphone use (β = 0.203) and health app use experience (β = -0.176) were independent influencing factors.

CONCLUSION

Postoperative patients in gastrointestinal surgery exhibit generally low cognition of digital out-of-hospital health monitoring, characterized by a "value recognition preceding basic cognition" pattern and prevalent concerns. Digital contact experience predicts cognitive level better than demographic characteristics. Stratified health education should be implemented to strengthen service concept awareness, while technical optimization should be adopted to alleviate patient concerns.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal surgery; Postoperative patients; Digital out-of-hospital health monitoring; Cognition; Influencing factors; Cross-sectional study

Core Tip: This cross-sectional study of 126 postoperative gastrointestinal surgery patients found moderately low cognition of digital out-of-hospital health monitoring (mean score 3.02 ± 0.43), characterized by value cognition exceeding basic cognition. Smartphone experience and health app use independently predicted cognition, suggesting that digital contact experience outweighs demographic characteristics. Pervasive concerns regarding data accuracy and privacy security hindered the transition from perceived usefulness to actual utilization. Stratified health education and technology optimization are essential to bridge this gap.