scholarly journals Are lifestyle changes from online information associated with discussing the information with a doctor? A cross -sectional study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261471
Author(s):  
Tiki Celine Midthassel ◽  
Anne Helen Hansen

Background The prevalence of diabetes and the use of electronic health (eHealth) are increasing. Lifestyle changes in a positive direction may reduce morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes. The main objective of this study was to test the association between lifestyle changes based on online information seeking and discussing the information with a doctor. Methods In this cross-sectional study we used e-mail survey data from 1250 members of The Norwegian Diabetes Association, collected in 2018. Included in the analyses were 847 men and women aged 18 to 89 years diagnosed with diabetes and who reported use of eHealth within the previous year. We used descriptive statistics to estimate lifestyle changes based on information from the internet. Logistic regressions were used to estimate the associations between lifestyle changes after online information seeking and discussing the information with a doctor. Analyses were adjusted for gender, age, education, and self-rated health. Results Lifestyle changes accomplished after online information seeking was reported by 46.9% (397/847) of the participants. The odds of changing lifestyle were more than doubled for those who had discussed information from the internet with a doctor (odds ratio 2.54, confidence interval 1.90–3.40). The odds of lifestyle changes were lower in the age groups 30–39 years and 60 years and over, compared to those aged 18–29 years (the reference group). Lifestyle changes were not associated with gender, education, or self-rated health. Conclusions Our findings indicate that health-care professionals can play an important role in lifestyle changes additional to health-advice found on the internet. This study underlines the importance of easily accessible high-quality online information, as well as the importance of making room for discussing lifestyle in the clinical encounter.

Author(s):  
Rachna Shekhar ◽  
Sandhya Rani Javalkar

Background: The Internet has proven to be a powerful vehicle for the dissemination of information and the use of Internet by the patients as a source of information on health and disease is increasing rapidly. It has reformed the doctor-patient relationship by empowering patients with information. The objective was to study the trends of patient’s health information seeking behaviour on the internet and its effects on the doctor-patient relationship.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst the 73 doctors and 110 patients attending the tertiary health care centre, Davanagere. A pre-tested and pre-validated questionnaire was used to collect data. Percentages and Proportions were used to summarize the study variables.Results: The most common search engine used was Google i.e. 92% and majority of them looked up symptoms/ disease condition 80%. 57% respondents verified doctor’s advice. 73% respondents stated that they used online health information for self-diagnosis but less than 10% of respondents took medications mentioned online. The doctors (60%) stated that the patient’s Internet use proves that the patient or his/her family are involved and take responsibility. However, 49.3% of doctors stated that they get uncomfortable when presented with online health information by the patients.Conclusions: Doctors are starting to recognize the use of the internet by patients as a source of health information. Patients consider the internet as a supplementary resource for better understanding of symptoms and diagnosis. The need of the hour is better communication between doctor and patients; and availability of reliable web-based health resources to patients for better compliance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedict Osei Asibey ◽  
Seth Agyemang ◽  
Augustina Boakye Dankwah

The aim of the study was to investigate university students’ use of the Internet for health purpose in the Ghanaian context. The study employed a quantitative cross-sectional design. A total of 650 out of 740 students selected from 3 different universities participated, giving a response rate of 87.7% (650/740). Data were obtained using questionnaires and frequency and percentages were used to analyze data. The results show that university students are active users of the Internet as 78.3% (509/650) used Internet daily and 67.7% (440/650) use Internet for health purposes, for reasons including availability and ease of accessing information, privacy, confidentiality, and affordability. Use of Internet was constrained by unreliable and slow connection, high cost of Internet, and unreliable power supply. Also, 72.4% (315/435) used the online health information obtained as a basis for lifestyle change and only 39.5% (170/430) consulted health professionals after obtaining online information. The study concludes that students use Internet to seek online health support. The use of Internet to communicate with young people in relation to their health must therefore be explored. There is the need to be aware of online safety issues for young adults, including the need to provide information on privacy options.


Crisis ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Arendt ◽  
Sebastian Scherr

Abstract. Background: Research has already acknowledged the importance of the Internet in suicide prevention as search engines such as Google are increasingly used in seeking both helpful and harmful suicide-related information. Aims: We aimed to assess the impact of a highly publicized suicide by a Hollywood actor on suicide-related online information seeking. Method: We tested the impact of the highly publicized suicide of Robin Williams on volumes of suicide-related search queries. Results: Both harmful and helpful search terms increased immediately after the actor's suicide, with a substantial jump of harmful queries. Limitations: The study has limitations (e.g., possible validity threats of the query share measure, use of ambiguous search terms). Conclusion: Online suicide prevention efforts should try to increase online users' awareness of and motivation to seek help, for which Google's own helpline box could play an even more crucial role in the future.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 342
Author(s):  
Bum Jung Kim ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
Ling Xu ◽  
Yura Lee

This study examines the influence of self-rated health and subjective economic status on the life satisfaction of older Chinese immigrants in the United States. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 205 older Chinese immigrants aged 66 to 90 years living in Los Angeles and Honolulu. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis was employed to explore the independent effects of self-rated health and subjective economic status. The results demonstrated that self-rated health and subjective economic status were positively associated with life satisfaction. This cross-sectional study provides empirical evidence that self-rated health and subjective economic status are directly associated with subjective life satisfaction among older Chinese immigrants.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nader Rajabi Gilan ◽  
Mehdi khezeli ◽  
Shirin Zardoshtian

Abstract Background Life satisfaction is an important component in designing strategies to improve health outcomes in different groups of society. This study aimed to investigate the effect of subjective socioeconomic status (SSS), social capital (SC), self-rated health (SRH), and physical activity (PA) on life satisfaction (LS) in Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1187 people (643 men and 544 women) lived in five western cities in Iran. The sampling method was multistage clustering. Data collection tool was a five part questionnaire including demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status ladder, social capital scale, a question to measure physical activity, and the life satisfaction scale. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, one way ANOVA, and Ordinal Logistic Regression. Result Life satisfaction was higher in married men and women compared to single and widows (p < 0.05). Among the variables included in the main model, the significant predictors were college education (− 0.500), marriage (coefficient = 0.422), age 25–34 years (coefficient = − 0.384), SRH (coefficient = 0.477), male sex (coefficient = 0.425), SSS (coefficient = 0.373), trust (coefficient = 0.115), and belonging and empathy (coefficient = 0.064). Conclusion SRH and SSS were significant predictors of life satisfaction in west Iranian society. Being married was associated with higher LS, but college education affects LS adversely.


Author(s):  
Priyanka . ◽  
R K Pal

Introduction: Excessive use of the Internet affects the academic achievements of students. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Internet addiction and the pattern of Internet use among undergraduate medical students. Method: This analytical cross-sectional study conducted on 177 undergraduate medical students in batch 2016, 2017 and 2018, who were included in this study by convenience sampling method. The study tool was  Young’s Internet Addiction Test containing questions regarding the pattern of Internet use. Data entry and analysis was done by using Microsoft excel and SPSS version 21. Qualitative data were described in terms of frequency and percentage while quantitative data were expressed as mean and standard deviation. Chi square test and multiple linear regression were used to find out the relationship between various factors and Internet Addiction (IA).  The significance level was considered 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 20.3 years (± 1.19), and 62 % of the subjects were males. The prevalence rate of Internet Addiction (IA) was found to be 56.5% and 42.9% of them were in mild and 13.6% were in moderate addiction category. Being male (β= -0.143, p=0.038), staying at a hostel (β= 0.167, p=0.018), not having a time preference for using the Internet (β= -0.174, p=0.012), spending more time on the Internet everyday (β= 0.201, p=0.000), being always online (β= 0.276, p=0.000) and more years of using the Internet (β= 0.175, p=0.015) were significantly related with IA in students. Conclusion: A large proportion of medical students were found to be addicted to the Internet. Therefore, this issue should be addressed immediately.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (9) ◽  
pp. 971-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dario Novak ◽  
Lovro Štefan ◽  
Arunas Emeljanovas ◽  
Brigita Mieziene ◽  
Ivana Milanović ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Neha Priya ◽  
Samreen Khan ◽  
Sachin Lal

Background: Internet is a boon and has certainly helped to bring the world closer. It has been a great medium for students to communicate and get information by transforming the academic landscape. However the excessive and undisciplined use of internet by individuals especially in the last decade, has led to the emergence of the concept of internet addiction. Therefore, a cross sectional study has been conducted to investigate the use of internet facility among undergraduate students from Teerthankar Mahaveer University using a validated questionnaire. There were about 42 million active internet users in urban India in 2008 when compared to 5 million in 2000. India now has the world’s third-largest national digital population, with approximately, 159 million Internet users in 2014, which is projected to reach 314 million by 2017 (IMRB 2014). The aim was to study prevalence and pattern of internet usage among undergraduate students in Moradabad. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among medical students (n=382) belonging to all the professionals of medical college, to assess the pattern of internet usage. A semi-structured proforma along with Young’s internet addiction scale was used. Results: Of the 382 adolescents who took part in the study, 150 (39.27%) were female and 232 (60.73%) were males. Their mean age was 16.20 years. Using Young’s original criteria, 22 (5.76%) were found to be addicts, 230 (60.21%) were moderately addicted, 45 (11.78%) were average users while in 85 (22.25%) of student’s internet use was less than average. Most of internet use was for social networking 183(47.9%), downloading media files 125 (32.7%), online gaming 45 (11.8%), academic purposes 10 (2.6%) and others 19 (5%). About 275 (72%) of the students were using smart phones to access the internet. Conclusions: Most of the internet usage was for the purpose of social networking (Facebook, Whats App, Mails, etc). Availability of high speed free wi-fi internet on mobile phones as well as more reliance on virtual friendship than real may be the reason for spending more time on social network websites. 


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