A cross-section study to assess Health Information Seeking Behavior (HISB) in Syria (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayham Research Group ◽  
Rashad Almahayni
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Quality Score ◽  
Main Question ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Section Study ◽  
Reliability Score

BACKGROUND The wide-spread use of the internet, and the numerous websites and platforms it provides access to allow users to reach a multitude of articles on almost any topic, which raises the issue of the quality and reliability of the information obtained online. Without denying the existence of reliable websites, the main question remains whether information seekers are reaching these websites. While many studies have been done to answer these questions, few were undertaken in third world countries. OBJECTIVE This study attempts to shed light on the current Health Information Seeking Behaviors (HISB) in Syria, to provide data, and to lay the ground for future studies. METHODS This is a cross-section study that used a questionnaire to identify and measure different HISB habits in Syria. A chi-square test was used to study the relations between different demographic groups and different HISB groups, and the relations between Different HISB groups. The study used the DISCERN Instrument to assess the reliability and quality of the information obtained by participants, and the means for the reliability score, the quality score, and the total DISCERN Instrument score were calculated and compared to scores of different methods of HISB with a T-score test. RESULTS The study suggests that Search Engines are the most commonly used method when actively seeking health information (52%), followed by official websites (26.6%) and unofficial websites (11.8%), with social media being the least used method (9.7%). Official websites scored the highest mean on the DISCERN Instrument score with 3.77 (±0.651), and the highest mean in reliability with 4.02 (±0.598), while social media scored the highest mean in quality with 3.53 (±1.014). Search Engines scored the lowest means in all 3 aspects, with a total DISCERN score of 3.35 (±0.715), a reliability score of 3.57 (±0.712), and a quality score of 3.11 (±0.915). CONCLUSIONS Official websites need to take more steps to provide better quality information for users. Non-medical provider users search for overview more often, therefore official websites should provide an overview of the topics at the start of their materials.

scholarly journals The Association Between Health Information Seeking on the Internet and Physician Visits (The Seventh Tromsø Study - Part 4): Population-Based Questionnaire Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kassaye Yitbarek Yigzaw ◽  
Rolf Wynn ◽  
Luis Marco-Ruiz ◽  
Andrius Budrionis ◽  
Sunday Oluwafemi Oyeyemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Web Search ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Physician Visits ◽  
Web Search Engines

BACKGROUND The internet is being widely used for seeking health information. However, there is no consensus on the association between health information seeking on the internet and the use of health care services. OBJECTIVE We examined the association between health information seeking via the internet and physician visits. In addition, we investigated the association between online health information seeking and the decisions to visit and not to visit a physician. METHODS We used the cross-sectional electronic health (eHealth) data of 18,197 participants from the seventh survey of the Tromsø Study (Tromsø 7). The participants were aged ≥40 years and living in Tromsø, Norway. We used logistic regression models to examine the association between online health information seeking and physician visits, the decision to visit a physician, and the decision not to visit a physician, with adjustment for the demographic status, socioeconomic status, and health status of the participants. RESULTS The use of Web search engines was associated with a physician visit. However, the association was moderated by age, and the OR decreased as age increased. The ORs for the use of Web search engines were 1.99 (95% CI 1.94-2.02) and 1.07 (95% CI 1.03-1.12) at ages 40 and 80 years, respectively. The decision to visit a physician was associated with the use of Web search engines (OR 2.95, 95% CI 2.03-4.46), video search engines (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.21-1.70), and health apps (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.13-1.42). The association between social media use and the decision to visit a physician was moderated by gender. Women who used social media had 1.42 (95% CI 1.31-1.55) times higher odds of deciding to visit a physician, whereas the decision to visit a physician was not different between men who used social media and those who did not use social media. Conversely, the decision not to visit a physician was associated with the use of Web search engines (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.92-4.18), video search engines (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.07-1.51), social media (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10-1.49), and health apps (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.35). CONCLUSIONS Health information found on the internet was positively associated with both the decision to visit a physician and the decision not to visit a physician. However, the association of health information seeking with the decision to visit a physician was slightly stronger than the association with the decision not to visit a physician. This could imply that the use of eHealth services is associated with a resultant increase in physician visits. In summary, our findings suggest that the internet serves as a supplement to health care services rather than as a replacement.

scholarly journals The Association Between Health Information Seeking on the Internet and Physician Visits (The Seventh Tromsø Study - Part 4): Population-Based Questionnaire Study

10.2196/13120 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. e13120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kassaye Yitbarek Yigzaw ◽  
Rolf Wynn ◽  
Luis Marco-Ruiz ◽  
Andrius Budrionis ◽  
Sunday Oluwafemi Oyeyemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Search Engines ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Web Search ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Physician Visits ◽  
Web Search Engines

Background The internet is being widely used for seeking health information. However, there is no consensus on the association between health information seeking on the internet and the use of health care services. Objective We examined the association between health information seeking via the internet and physician visits. In addition, we investigated the association between online health information seeking and the decisions to visit and not to visit a physician. Methods We used the cross-sectional electronic health (eHealth) data of 18,197 participants from the seventh survey of the Tromsø Study (Tromsø 7). The participants were aged ≥40 years and living in Tromsø, Norway. We used logistic regression models to examine the association between online health information seeking and physician visits, the decision to visit a physician, and the decision not to visit a physician, with adjustment for the demographic status, socioeconomic status, and health status of the participants. Results The use of Web search engines was associated with a physician visit. However, the association was moderated by age, and the OR decreased as age increased. The ORs for the use of Web search engines were 1.99 (95% CI 1.94-2.02) and 1.07 (95% CI 1.03-1.12) at ages 40 and 80 years, respectively. The decision to visit a physician was associated with the use of Web search engines (OR 2.95, 95% CI 2.03-4.46), video search engines (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.21-1.70), and health apps (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.13-1.42). The association between social media use and the decision to visit a physician was moderated by gender. Women who used social media had 1.42 (95% CI 1.31-1.55) times higher odds of deciding to visit a physician, whereas the decision to visit a physician was not different between men who used social media and those who did not use social media. Conversely, the decision not to visit a physician was associated with the use of Web search engines (OR 2.78, 95% CI 1.92-4.18), video search engines (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.07-1.51), social media (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.10-1.49), and health apps (OR 1.20, 95% CI 1.07-1.35). Conclusions Health information found on the internet was positively associated with both the decision to visit a physician and the decision not to visit a physician. However, the association of health information seeking with the decision to visit a physician was slightly stronger than the association with the decision not to visit a physician. This could imply that the use of eHealth services is associated with a resultant increase in physician visits. In summary, our findings suggest that the internet serves as a supplement to health care services rather than as a replacement.

Exploring Transgender Adolescents' Use of Social Media for Support and Health Information Seeking

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. S44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Adkins ◽  
Ellie Masters ◽  
Daniel Shumer ◽  
Ellen Selkie
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Use Of Social Media

scholarly journals Consumers� Gender Difference in Communicating with Doctors on Social Media: Survey Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tailai Wu ◽  
Dongqing Zha ◽  
Zhaohua Deng ◽  
Zhuo Chen ◽  
Donglan Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Gender Difference ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Partial Least Square ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Affective Communication ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Social media is becoming more and more important for communication between doctors and consumers. However, little is known about the effect of doctor-consumer communication on consumers’ health information seeking intention. Meanwhile, gender difference in the effect of doctor-consumer communication has not been studied well. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to investigate how doctor-consumer communication on social media affects consumers’ health information seeking intention and whether this association is moderated by gender. METHODS Based on professional-client interaction theory and social role theory, we propose that doctor-consumer communication can be divided into instrumental and affective communication. These two types of communication influence consumers’ health information seeking intention through trust towards doctors. We also argue that the relationship between doctor-consumer communication and trust towards doctors could be moderated by gender. To validate our proposed research model, we employed the survey method and developed corresponding measurement instruments for constructs in our research model. 352 valid answers were collected from consumers who have experience of communicating with doctors on social media. To analyze the data, partial least square was performed. RESULTS Trust towards doctors was found to influence consumers’ health information seeking intention significantly (t=16.881, P<0.001), while both instrumental (t=6.083, P<0.001) and affective communication (t=5.745, P<0.001) between doctors and consumers on social media influence trust towards doctors significantly. Towards the moderation effect of gender, the effect of both instrumental (t=12.87, P<0.001) and affective communication (t=7.3, P<0.001) on trust towards doctors is greater for females than for males. CONCLUSIONS This study not only demonstrates the effect of doctor-consumer communication on social media on consumers’ health information seeking intention, but also uncovers the role of gender in the impact of doctor-consumer communication. To consider the different genders in doctor-consumer communication on social media, we can understand the effect of doctor-consumer communication on social media on consumers’ health information seeking behavior better and deeper.

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