Understanding Health Information Seeking on the Internet Among Sexual Minority People: Cross-Sectional Analysis From the Health Information National Trends Survey

Background Owing to the revolution in technology, the internet has become an important aspect of people’s lives. Modern technology is enabling people from diverse educational backgrounds to use the internet for several purposes, one of which is health information seeking. Recently, Web-based health information has become more popular among patients all over the world and among the general public. Objective This study aimed to investigate the use of Web-based health resources among undergraduate students from different faculties at Kuwait University. Methods The study employed a cross-sectional design with students selected from 8 faculties of Kuwait University, 4 faculties of Literature and 4 faculties of Science. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and analysis was done using a chi-square test and binary logistic regression to determine the factors associated with seeking health information on the Web. Results The sample size obtained was 1132 with a response rate of 90.27% (1132/1254). Overall, the prevalence of students seeking Web-based health information was 92.66%. (1049/1132) The most significant factors associated with seeking health information on the Web were age, gender, faculty, year of study, primary source of internet, and level of experience with internet use. In total, 90.0% (325/361) of students who were aged older than 21 years used Web-based health information compared with 82.8% (275/332) of those who were aged 18 years. In addition, female students showed a higher prevalence (829/934, 88.8%) of Web-based health information seeking than males (210/270, 77.8%). Students who majored in faculties of Science were more likely to seek health information than those who majored in faculties of Literature. All the differences found in the study were statistically significant (P<.05). Conclusions The study concluded that many people use the internet for seeking health information. Sociodemographic factors have a significant association with Web-based health information seeking. Therefore, doctors must educate the public about the health information websites that can be trusted.

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Use of Digital Health Information for Health Information Seeking Among Men Living With Chronic Disease: Data From the Health Information National Trends Survey

American Journal of Men s Health ◽

10.1177/1557988320901377 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 155798832090137 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ledric D. Sherman ◽

Megan S. Patterson ◽

Aditi Tomar ◽

Lisa T. Wigfall

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Help Seeking ◽

Digital Health ◽

Diabetes Education ◽

Risk Groups ◽

Future Research ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

National Trends

Although diabetes education plays an important role in self-management for people living with diabetes, male health “help-seeking” lags far behind women. These gender-related “help-seeking” disparities often result in males being less engaged in their health care, which subsequently leads to poorer health outcomes among males. In this cross-sectional study, we used data from the 2017 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) to identify factors that may contribute to communication inequalities between males and females. A hierarchical {linear/logistic} regression model was used to examine factors associated with online health information seeking among males living with diabetes. The results suggest that education, income, age, identifying as Hispanic, being a smoker, using a device to track progress toward a health-related goal, and using device to seek health information were all related to eHealth sum scores. Future research should consider testing applications among various at-risk groups to determine if the technology itself is becoming a barrier to eHealth.

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Web-Based Health Information Seeking Among Students at Kuwait University: Cross-Sectional Survey Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.14327 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hasan Ashkanani ◽

Rabab Asery ◽

Fajer Bokubar ◽

Noor AlAli ◽

Shahad Mubarak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Survey Study ◽

The Internet ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Kuwait University ◽

Web Based ◽

Factors Associated ◽

The Web

BACKGROUND Owing to the revolution in technology, the internet has become an important aspect of people’s lives. Modern technology is enabling people from diverse educational backgrounds to use the internet for several purposes, one of which is health information seeking. Recently, Web-based health information has become more popular among patients all over the world and among the general public. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the use of Web-based health resources among undergraduate students from different faculties at Kuwait University. METHODS The study employed a cross-sectional design with students selected from 8 faculties of Kuwait University, 4 faculties of Literature and 4 faculties of Science. Data were collected using structured questionnaires, and analysis was done using a chi-square test and binary logistic regression to determine the factors associated with seeking health information on the Web. RESULTS The sample size obtained was 1132 with a response rate of 90.27% (1132/1254). Overall, the prevalence of students seeking Web-based health information was 92.66%. (1049/1132) The most significant factors associated with seeking health information on the Web were age, gender, faculty, year of study, primary source of internet, and level of experience with internet use. In total, 90.0% (325/361) of students who were aged older than 21 years used Web-based health information compared with 82.8% (275/332) of those who were aged 18 years. In addition, female students showed a higher prevalence (829/934, 88.8%) of Web-based health information seeking than males (210/270, 77.8%). Students who majored in faculties of Science were more likely to seek health information than those who majored in faculties of Literature. All the differences found in the study were statistically significant (<italic>P</italic><.05). CONCLUSIONS The study concluded that many people use the internet for seeking health information. Sociodemographic factors have a significant association with Web-based health information seeking. Therefore, doctors must educate the public about the health information websites that can be trusted.

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Health information seeking on the internet (Dr Google) and its effect on doctor-patient relationship: a cross-sectional study from Central Karnataka

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20204379 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (10) ◽

pp. 4076

Author(s):

Rachna Shekhar ◽

Sandhya Rani Javalkar

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Health Information ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Patient Relationship ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Doctor Patient Relationship ◽

Cross Sectional

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.

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