scholarly journals Childhood immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence by health information source, maternal, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics in Albania

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Mayerová ◽  
Kaja Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Side Effects ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Working Mothers ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Childhood Immunisation ◽  
Lower Odds ◽  
Vaccine Confidence

Abstract Background Albania is facing decreasing childhood immunisation coverage and delay in timeliness of vaccination despite a growing economy and universal health insurance. Our aim is to estimate childhood immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence associated with health information source, maternal, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics in Albania. Methods We used the 2017–2018 Albania Demographic and Health Survey to analyse childhood immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence among 2113 and 1795 mothers of under-5-year-old children respectively using simple and multivariable logistic regression. Results Among mothers of under-5-year-old children in Albania, 78.1% [95% CI: 74.3, 81.5] never postponed or rejected childhood vaccines. Immunisation delay was reported by 21.3% [18.0, 25.1] of mothers, but a majority (67.0%) were caused by the infant’s sickness at the time of vaccination, while a minority (6.1%) due to mothers’ concerns about vaccine safety and side effects. Vaccine confidence was high among the mothers at 92.9% [91.0, 94.4] with similar geographical patterns to immunisation timeliness. Among 1.3% of mothers who ever refused vaccination of their children, the main concerns were about vaccine safety (47.8%) and side effects (23.1%). With respect to childhood immunisation timeliness, after controlling for other background characteristics, mothers whose main health information source was the Internet/social media had 34% (adjusted odds-ratio AOR = 0.66 [0.47, 0.94], p = 0.020) lower odds in comparison to other sources, working mothers had 35% (AOR = 0.65 [0.47, 0.91], p = 0.013) lower odds in comparison to non-working mothers, mothers with no education had 86% (AOR = 0.14 [0.03, 0.67], p = 0.014) lower odds compared to those who completed higher education, and mothers living in AL02-Qender and AL03-Jug regions had 62% (AOR = 0.38 [0.23, 0.63], p < 0.0001) and 64% (AOR = 0.36 [0.24, 0.53], p < 0.0001) lower odds respectively in comparison to those residing in AL01-Veri region (p < 0.0001).   With respect to vaccine confidence, mothers whose main health information source was the Internet/social media had 56% (AOR = 0.44 [0.27, 0.73], p = 0.002) lower odds in comparison to other sources, single mothers had 92% (AOR = 0.08 [0.01, 0.65], p = 0.019) lower odds compared to those married/living with a partner, mothers of specific ethnicites (like Roma) had 61% (AOR = 0.39 [0.15, 0.97], p = 0.042) lower odds in comparison to mothers of Albanian ethnicity, and mothers living in AL03-Jug region had 67% (AOR = 0.33 [0.19, 0.59], p ≤ 0.0001) lower odds compared to mothers residing in AL01-Veri region. Conclusions Reinforcement of scientific evidence-based online communication about childhood immunisation in combination with tracking and analysis of vaccine hesitancy sentiment and anti-vaccination movements on the Internet/social media would be beneficial in improving immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence in Albania. Since parents tend to search online for information that would confirm their original beliefs, traditional ways of promoting vaccination by healthcare professionals who enjoy confidence as trusted sources of health information should be sustained and strengthened to target the inequities in childhood immunisation timelines and vaccine confidence in Albania.

scholarly journals Vaccine confidence and timeliness of childhood immunisation by health information source, maternal, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics in Albania

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Mayerová ◽  
Kaja Abbas
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Maternal Education ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Vaccine Safety ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Childhood Immunisation ◽  
Vaccine Confidence

AbstractBackgroundAlbania is facing decreasing childhood immunisation coverage and timeliness despite a growing economy and universal health insurance. Our aim is to estimate vaccine confidence and timeliness of childhood immunisation by health information source, maternal, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics in Albania.MethodsWe used the 2017-2018 Albania Demographic and Health Survey to analyse vaccine confidence, measured via the proxy of vaccine timeliness, among 2,156 mothers of under-5-year-old children using simple and multivariable logistic regression.Results77.9% [74.2, 81.2] of mothers had confidence in vaccines. Immunisation delay was reported by 21.5% [18.3, 25.3] of mothers, but a majority (65.7%) were caused by the infant’s sickness at the time of vaccination, while a minority (8.7%) due to mothers’ concerns about vaccine safety and side effects. Among 1.7% of mothers who ever refused vaccination of their children, the main concerns were about vaccine safety (35.9%) and adverse events (42.7%). Factors associated with lower vaccine confidence were using the Internet/social media as the main health information source compared to other sources (AOR=0.66 [0.47, 0.94], p=0.020), mother’s work outside the home (AOR=0.65 [0.47, 0.91], p=0.013), lack of maternal education (AOR=0.14 [0.03, 0.67], p=0.014), and living in AL02-Qender (AOR=0.38 [0.23, 0.63]) and AL03-Jug regions (AOR=0.36 [0.24, 0.53]) in comparison to AL01-Veri region (p<0.0001).ConclusionsReinforcement of scientific evidence-based online communication about childhood immunisation and monitoring anti-vaccination movements on the Internet/social media would be beneficial in improving vaccine confidence and timeliness in Albania, together with traditional ways of promoting vaccination by healthcare professionals who enjoy confidence as trusted sources of information.

scholarly journals Online Health Information Seeking Among US Adults: Measuring Progress Toward a Healthy People 2020 Objective

2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (6) ◽  
pp. 617-625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lila J. Finney Rutten ◽  
Kelly D. Blake ◽  
Alexandra J. Greenberg-Worisek ◽  
Summer V. Allen ◽  
Richard P. Moser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Healthy People ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Annual Household Income ◽  
Healthy People 2020 ◽  
Race Ethnicity

Objective: During the past decade, the availability of health information online has increased dramatically. We assessed progress toward the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) health communication and health information technology objective of increasing the proportion of health information seekers who easily access health information online. Methods: We used data from 4 administrations of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2008-2017) (N = 18 103). We conducted multivariable logistic regression analysis to evaluate trends over time in experiences with accessing health information and to examine differences by sociodemographic variables (sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, metropolitan status) separately for those who used the internet (vs other information sources) during their most recent search for health information. Results: Among US adults who looked for health information and used the internet for their most recent search, the percentage who reported accessing health information without frustration was stable during the study period (from 37.2% in 2008 to 38.5% in 2017). Accessing information online without frustration was significantly and independently associated with age 35-49 (vs age 18-34) (odds ratio [OR] = 1.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 -1.73), non-Hispanic black (vs non-Hispanic white) race/ethnicity (OR = 2.15; 95% CI, 1.55-2.97), and annual household income <$20 000 (vs >$75 000) (OR = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.47-0.93). The percentage of adults who used an information source other than the internet and reported accessing health information online without frustration ranged from 31.3% in 2008 to 42.7% in 2017. Survey year 2017 (vs 2008) (OR = 1.61; 95% CI, 1.09-2.35) and high school graduate education (vs college graduate) (OR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.49-0.97) were significantly and independently associated with accessing health information without frustration from sources other than the internet. Conclusions: The percentage of online health information seekers reporting easily accessing health information did not meet the HP2020 objective. Continued efforts are needed to enable easy access to online health information among diverse populations.

Adolescents' perceptions of the internet as a health information source

2002 ◽  
Vol 10 (S1) ◽  
pp. R53-R53 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Gray ◽  
J. D. Klein ◽  
J. A. Cantrill ◽  
P. R. Noyce
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Information Source ◽  
The Internet

scholarly journals Providing health information via Twitter: professional background and message style influence source trustworthiness, message credibility and behavioral intentions

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (04) ◽  
pp. A04
Author(s):  
Lars König ◽  
Priska Breves
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Global Community ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
Lower Case ◽  
Subject Experiment

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global community, politicians as well as scientists increasingly turn to Twitter to share urgent health information using various message styles. The results of our 2x2 between-subject experiment show that if a Tweet is written in lower-case letters, participants perceive the information source as more trustworthy. Furthermore, the information is perceived as more credible, and people are more willing to read the health information and share it via social media. Furthermore, scientists are perceived as possessing more expertise than politicians. However, politicians are perceived as possessing more integrity and benevolence than scientists.

scholarly journals Associations Between the Use of eHealth and Out-of-Hours Services in People With Type 1 Diabetes: Cross-Sectional Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Helen Hansen ◽  
Tor Claudi ◽  
Eirik Årsand
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Type 1 Diabetes ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Health Information ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Out Of Hours ◽  
Frequent Users ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Anxiety Depression

BACKGROUND Despite the increasing prevalence of diabetes and the increasing use of eHealth, little is known about the association between provider-based health services and eHealth among people with diabetes. This is the second study in a project exploring the associations between the use of eHealth and the use of provider-based health services. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to investigate which eHealth services are used among out-of-hours (OOH) visitors with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and whether the use of eHealth (eg, apps, search engines, video services, and social media) was associated with the use of OOH services. We also wanted to investigate associations between anxiety, reassurance, and change in doctor-seeking behavior because of health information acquired from the Internet, and the use of OOH services. METHODS We used data from a 2018 email survey of members of the Norwegian Diabetes Association (18-89 years old). Respondents with T1D were eligible for analyses. Using descriptive statistics, we estimated the use of OOH services and eHealth. Using logistic regressions, we studied the associations between the use of OOH services and the use of eHealth, as well as associations between the use of OOH services and reported consequences of using Internet-based health information. RESULTS In the sample of 523 people with T1D (mean age 47 years), 26.7% (129/484) visited OOH services once or more during the previous year. Among the OOH visitors, search engines were used for health purposes by 86.7% (111/128), apps (health apps in general) by 63.6% (82/129), social media by 45.3% (58/128), and video services by 28.4% (36/127). The use of OOH services was positively associated with self-reported anxiety/depression (odds ratio [OR] 4.53, 95% CI 1.43-14.32) and with the use of apps (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.05-2.85), but not with other types of eHealth. Those who had felt anxious based on information from the Internet were more likely to visit OOH services compared with those who had not felt anxious (OR 2.38, 95% CI 1.50-3.78). People who had decided to consult a doctor based on information from the Internet were more likely to visit OOH services (OR 2.76, 95% CI 1.64-4.66), compared to those who had not made such an Internet-based decision. CONCLUSIONS People with T1D were frequent users of OOH services, and the OOH visitors were frequent users of eHealth. The use of OOH services was positively associated with the use of health apps, with self-reported anxiety/depression, and with feeling anxious based on information from the Internet. Likewise, deciding to consult a doctor based on information from the Internet was positively associated with OOH visits. The use of eHealth seems to have a significant impact on people with T1D.

scholarly journals A mixed methods systematic review of the effects of patient online self-diagnosing in the 'smart-phone society' on the healthcare professional-patient relationship and medical authority

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabel Farnood ◽  
Bridget Johnston ◽  
Frances S Mair
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Healthcare Professional ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Information Source ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Professional Relationship

Abstract Background: As technology continues to advance, the internet is becoming increasingly popular. Self-diagnosis and health information seeking online is growing more common and it will be important to understand the influence this may have on the patient-healthcare professional relationship. Methods: A mixed-method systematic review of quantitative, qualitative and mixed method studies concerning the public and healthcare professionals’ perceptions of online self-diagnosis and health information seeking and how this can impact the patient-healthcare professional relationship. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ACM & SCOPUS between 2007 and 2018. Relevant data were extracted, and a thematic analysis was conducted and conceptualised using the Normalisation Process Theory framework. Results: Of 6107 records identified, 25 articles met the review eligibility criteria which included 16 qualitative, 8 quantitative and 1 mixed method study. The findings indicated that patients found the internet as a complementary information source alongside healthcare professionals. Health care professionals were perceived to be the most reliable and valued information source. People feel responsible for their own health and find the internet to be a source that provides information rapidly with accessibility at their convenience. Most healthcare professionals agreed on the importance of collaboration with patients and the need to develop a partnership and shared decision-making process but struggled to find time in the consultation to do so efficiently. Some healthcare professionals felt that the internet was advantageous for patients looking after their own health, while others felt it was due to a lack of trust in their expertise. Patients tended to present information to the healthcare professional to support the therapeutic relationship rather than to challenge it and to become more involved in the decision-making process of their healthcare. Conclusion: The results of this review suggests that patients value healthcare professionals as a source of medical advice more than the internet. While health professionals views were mixed our findings indicate that online health information seeking can potentially improve the patient-healthcare professional relationship as patients reported they usually conducted an online search to form a partnership with the healthcare professional as opposed to trying to prove them wrong. Systematic review registration: CRD42018084230

scholarly journals An assessment of fluoride related posts on Instagram

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey H. Basch ◽  
Nicole Milano ◽  
Grace C. Hillyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
English Language ◽  
Fluoride Content ◽  
Conspiracy Theory ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Medical Providers ◽  
Social Media Platform ◽  
Media Platform

Background: Social media is a driving force in the sharing of information. The purpose of this study is to describe fluoride related content on Instagram, a popular social media platform. Methods: Content categories were created and coded to better describe the nature of the posts.Data collection occurred in three sessions, two months apart. Only relevant posts that included images and had text written in the English language were included. Results: The most common topics were conspiracy theory, contained in 37.3% of posts, followed by dangers of fluoride to health (30.3%) and benefits of fluoride to teeth (28.7%). Of the posts reviewed, 96/300 (32.0%) contained pro-fluoride content while 139/300 (63.0%) posts featured anti-fluoride content. Content varied significantly between pro- and anti-fluoride posts.Conclusion: Our review of Instagram posts revealed that there were approximately 300 posts focused on fluoride related content. Of these posts, there was a higher number of anti-fluoride related content compared to pro-fluoride related content. With accessibility comes the potential for misinformation. Future efforts from medical providers need to focus on educating consumers about reliable sources for health information on the internet.

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