As for other health care services, e-Health applications are implemented with the general objective to improve the quality of life of their users. This holds not equally true for all applications, but it is frequently stated for patient-side e-Health services.A descriptive review of the literature indicates that in general there is no substantial impact of selected e-Health applications on patient-reported quality of life. Moreover, empirical findings are insufficient or lacking for several e-Health applications. Patient satisfaction is more often included in e-Health studies investigating the impact of e-Health applications on patient-reported outcomes, whereas patient-reported experiences are increasingly important.Given the diversity of e-Health applications and respective intended outcomes, it is concluded that the assessment of quality of life should become more context-sensitive and application-specific, including domains and facets that are specifically appropriate to e-Health settings. Moreover, patient-reported experiences (e. g. patient safety) should be taken into account.
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.