scholarly journals The Correlation of Online Health Information–Seeking Experience With Health-Related Quality of Life: Cross-Sectional Study Among Non–English-Speaking Female Students in a Religious Community (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Kavosi ◽  
Sara Vahedian ◽  
Razieh Montazeralfaraj ◽  
Arefeh Dehghani Tafti ◽  
Mohammad Amin Bahrami

BACKGROUND Given the increasing availability of the internet, it has become a common source of health information. However, the effect of this increased access on health needs to be further studied. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the correlation between online health information–seeking behavior and general health dimensions in a sample of high school students in Iran. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. A total of 295 female students participated in the study. The data were collected using two validated questionnaires: the e-Health Impact Questionnaire and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp). RESULTS The participants moderately used online information in their health-related decisions, and they thought that the internet helped people in health-related decision making. They also thought that the internet could be used to share health experiences with others. Participants had moderate confidence in online health information and stated that the information provided by health websites was moderately understandable and reliable and moderately encouraged and motivated them to play an active role in their health promotion. Nevertheless, the results showed that online health information–seeking experience had no significant correlation with health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS This study provides insights into the effect of using internet information on the health of adolescents. It has important implications for researchers and policy makers to build appropriate policies to maximize the benefit of internet access for health.

10.2196/23854 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e23854
Author(s):  
Zahra Kavosi ◽  
Sara Vahedian ◽  
Razieh Montazeralfaraj ◽  
Arefeh Dehghani Tafti ◽  
Mohammad Amin Bahrami

Background Given the increasing availability of the internet, it has become a common source of health information. However, the effect of this increased access on health needs to be further studied. Objective This study aimed to investigate the correlation between online health information–seeking behavior and general health dimensions in a sample of high school students in Iran. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. A total of 295 female students participated in the study. The data were collected using two validated questionnaires: the e-Health Impact Questionnaire and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp). Results The participants moderately used online information in their health-related decisions, and they thought that the internet helped people in health-related decision making. They also thought that the internet could be used to share health experiences with others. Participants had moderate confidence in online health information and stated that the information provided by health websites was moderately understandable and reliable and moderately encouraged and motivated them to play an active role in their health promotion. Nevertheless, the results showed that online health information–seeking experience had no significant correlation with health-related quality of life. Conclusions This study provides insights into the effect of using internet information on the health of adolescents. It has important implications for researchers and policy makers to build appropriate policies to maximize the benefit of internet access for health.


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.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-55
Author(s):  
Elena Link ◽  
Eva Baumann ◽  
Annemiek Linn ◽  
Andreas Fahr ◽  
Peter Schulz ◽  
...  

Patients’ participation in healthcare requires comprehensive health knowledge and can benefit from online health information seeking behaviours (O-HISB). The internet is a particularly vital source for seeking health-related information in many regions of the world. Therefore, we take a European cross-country comparative perspective on O-HISB. We aim to compare the importance of personal, health(care)-related, and cognitive determinants of using the internet for health-related purposes in four European countries. We conducted online surveys among the German, Swiss, Dutch, and Austrian public and described patterns of health information seeking online. The internet seemed to be a widely used source of health information in the four selected European countries. The explanation patterns of personal, health(care)-related, and cognitive factors differ by country and between selecting the internet as a source of health information and the frequency of online use. Using online media appeared to be more common for women and for current health problems. Respondents’ willingness and competencies are essential for online health information seeking. To prevent the increase of social and health-related disparities, there is an urgent need to support underprivileged population groups and increase motivations and eHealth literacy to use the internet for health-related purposes.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Kavosi ◽  
Sara Vahedian ◽  
Arefeh Dehghani tafti ◽  
Mohammad Amin Bahrami

Abstract Background: Given the increasing availability of internet, it has become a common source of health information for all population including students. However, the actual effect of this increased access to information on the health status and its different aspects needs to be studied more. This study aimed to investigate the correlations between online health information seeking behavior and health related quality of life in a sample of high school students of Iran. Methods: A survey was conducted among secondary school girl students of Yazd province, Iran in 2019. A total of 295 students participated in the study. The required data were gathered using two valid questionnaires including eHIQ (Kelly et al., 2015) to measure the online health information seeking experience and validated Persian version of SF-36 to measure the health related quality of life. The collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient using SPSS version 23. Results: The mean score of eHIQ was 2.71±0.71. Mean scores for physical component summary and mental component summary of SF-36 were 72.90±16.20 and 63.19±22.26, respectively. eHIQ score showed no statistical correlations with physical component summary (P=.46) and mental component summary (P=.53). Conclusion: The findings suggest that seeking online health information does not improve the health related quality of life. The possible causes are discussed but this finding should be studied more.


10.2196/19985 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e19985
Author(s):  
Christian Kubb ◽  
Heather M Foran

Background Parents commonly use the internet to search for information about their child’s health-related symptoms and guide parental health-related decisions. Despite the impact of parental online health seeking on offline health behaviors, this area of research remains understudied. Previous literature has not adequately distinguished searched behaviors when searching for oneself or one`s child. Objective The purpose of this review is to examine prevalences and associated variables of parent-child online health information seeking; investigate parents’ health-related online behavior regarding how they find, use, and evaluate information; and identify barriers and concerns that they experience during the search. Based on this analysis, we develop a conceptual model of potentially important variables of proxy online health information seeking, with a focus on building an agenda for further research. Methods We conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review of the PsycINFO, JMIR, and PubMed electronic databases. Studies between January 1994 and June 2018 were considered. The conceptual model was developed using an inductive mixed methods approach based on the investigated variables in the study sample. Results A total of 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings suggest that parents worldwide are heavy online users of health-related information for their children across highly diverse circumstances. A total of 6 studies found high parental health anxiety, with prevalences ranging from 14% to 52%. Although parents reported wishing for more guidance from their pediatrician on how to find reliable information, they rarely discussed retrieved information from the web. The conceptual model of proxy online health information seeking includes 49 variables. Conclusions This systematic review identifies important gaps regarding the influence of health-related information on parents’ health behavior and outcomes. Follow-up studies are required to offer parents guidance on how to use the web for health purposes in an effective way, as well as solutions to the multifaceted problems during or after online health information seeking for their child. The conceptual model with the number of studies in each model category listed highlights how previous studies have hardly considered relational variables between the parent and child. An agenda for future research is presented.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabiana Coglianese ◽  
Giulia Beltrame Vriz ◽  
Nicola Soriani ◽  
Gianluca Niccolò Piras ◽  
Rosanna Irene Comoretto ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND There are approximately 1,000,000 pregnant women at high risk for obstetric complications per year, more than half of whom require hospitalization. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the relation between online health information seeking and anxiety levels in a sample of hospitalized woman with pregnancy-related complications. METHODS A sample of 105 pregnant women hospitalized in northern Italy, all with an obstetric complication diagnosis, completed different questionnaires: Use of Internet Health-information (UIH) questionnaire about use of the internet, EuroQOL 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire on quality of life, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) questionnaire measuring general anxiety levels, and a questionnaire about critical events occurring during hospitalization. RESULTS Overall, 98/105 (93.3%) of the women used the internet at home to obtain nonspecific information about health in general and 95/105 (90.5%) of the women used the internet to specifically search for information related to their obstetric disease. Online health information-seeking behavior substantially decreased the self-reported anxiety levels (<i>P</i>=.008). CONCLUSIONS Web browsing for health information was associated with anxiety reduction, suggesting that the internet can be a useful instrument in supporting professional intervention to control and possibly reduce discomfort and anxiety for women during complicated pregnancies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1371-1376
Author(s):  
Mira Kartiwi Et.al

The advancement of technology has changed how parents engage in health information seeking activities through the Internet. Such trends not only shown in developed countries but also most of developing economies as the growth of population access to Internet have been steadily increased in the past ten years. Despite the growing penetration rate, little is known on the extent the Internet is being used by parents to obtain health-related information to improve the wellbeing of their children in developing countries. Five hundred and nineteen responses were collected from parents in selected areas of Klang Valley region in Malaysia. The collected data were analysed by partial least square method of structural equation modelling. The results indicated a positive relationship between information satisfaction and online health information seeking continued use. The moderating role of household income and education are confirmed. The research implications of our results would help medical practitioners and policymaker to design the appropriate supports and awareness programs for parents on the risk and benefits of using online health information.


10.2196/15906 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. e15906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina S Sedrak ◽  
Enrique Soto-Perez-De-Celis ◽  
Rebecca A Nelson ◽  
Jennifer Liu ◽  
Molly E Waring ◽  
...  

Background Understanding how older patients with chronic illnesses use the internet to obtain health information is relevant for the design of digital interventions aimed at improving the health and well-being of adults aged 65 years and older; this cohort represents the sickest, most expensive, and fastest-growing segment of the US population. Objective The objective of our study was to describe online health information–seeking behavior among older patients with chronic illnesses and to compare the characteristics of patients who report using the internet to obtain health information with those who do not. Methods The study population included 72,806 women aged 65 years and older enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a national cohort study, who completed a 2014 supplemental questionnaire assessing everyday technology use and internet use for researching health conditions. Comparisons were made between participants with and without a history of chronic illness and between users and nonusers of online sources for health information. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. Results Of the total, 59% (42,887/72,806) of older women used the internet for health information. Compared with women who did not use the internet to obtain health information, those who used the internet were younger (median age: 76 vs 81 years), more likely to be non-Hispanic white (90% [38,481/42,887] vs 87% [26,017/29,919]), earned a higher income (over $US 50,000: 55% [23,410/42,887] vs 33% [9991/29,919]), achieved a higher educational level (more than high school: 87% [37,493/42,887] vs 75% [22,377/29,919]), and were more likely to live with a partner (52% [22,457/42,887] vs 36% [10,759/29,919]) (all P<.001). Women with Alzheimer disease were least likely to report online health information–seeking compared to those without the disease (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.38-0.43). In contrast, women with a recent diagnosis of cancer, within the previous 2 years (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.11-1.36) or 2-5 years ago (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.00-1.19), were most likely to use the internet for health information. Conclusions Nearly 6 in 10 older women participating in the WHI reported using the internet to obtain health information. Patients recently diagnosed with cancer are more likely to be looking for health information online, even after adjustment for age, suggesting that these patients may have a greater need for digital health resources.


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