Published in PeerJ, the following literature review seeks evidence about barriers to the adoption and continued use of personal electronic health records (PHRs), the nature of the evidence for those barriers, and the stage of PHR implementation where particular barriers apply. The literature review identifies evidence for 21 barriers, categorized as Individual, Demographic, Capability, Health related, PHR related and attitudinal factors, which could interfere with or prevent a patient’s adoption or continued use of a personal health record. Many PHR barriers appear to be related to low socioeconomic status.