The Prevalence of Online Health Information Seeking Among Patients in Scotland: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study

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.

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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)

10.2196/preprints.23854 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Zahra Kavosi ◽

Sara Vahedian ◽

Razieh Montazeralfaraj ◽

Arefeh Dehghani Tafti ◽

Mohammad Amin Bahrami

Keyword(s):

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

The Internet ◽

Online Health Information ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related ◽

Online Health Information Seeking

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.

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Patterns of online health information seeking after visiting a physician: perceptions of adolescents from high schools in central Belgrade, Serbia

Family Practice ◽

10.1093/fampra/cmaa118 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Tatjana Gazibara ◽

Milica Cakic ◽

Jelena Cakic ◽

Anita Grgurevic ◽

Tatjana Pekmezovic

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Information ◽

Information Seeking ◽

Online Health Information ◽

Health Information Seeking ◽

School Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Online Health Information Seeking

Abstract Background Browsing webpages that offer health information allows visitors to remain anonymous, particularly when researching sensitive topics. Uncertainty about confidentiality may be a barrier for adolescents to discuss their health in-person with a physician and seek further health information on the Internet after seeing a physician. Objective To explore factors contributing to perceived online health information seeking after visiting a physician in a sample of high school students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2016 to January 2017. The study included 702 high school students. Socio-demographic and behavioral questionnaire as well as the electronic health (e-health) literacy scale (eHEALS) were used to collect data. Students described their perceptions of what they commonly do after visiting a physician, which was not connected to a particular clinic at any point in time. Results A total of 347 students (49.4%) perceived that they search for online health information after visiting a physician. Attending humanities-languages school program, lower education level of parents, being older at first Internet use, stronger influence of online health information on students’ behaviour, better e-health literacy, use of smartphones, YouTube, social networks and heath forums were associated with perceived online health information seeking after visiting a physician. Conclusion One-half of high school students in this study perceived that they search for online health information after having visited a physician. Our results suggest that many adolescents might seek additional information about health.

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