Modeling the online health information seeking process: Information channel selection among university students

Search Engine Use for Health-Related Purposes: Behavioral Data on Online Health Information-Seeking in Germany

Internet searches for health-related purposes are common, with search engines like Google being the most popular starting point. However, results on the popularity of health information-seeking behaviors are based on self-report data, often criticized for suffering from incomplete recall, overreporting, and low reliability. Therefore, the current study builds on user-centric tracking of Internet use to reveal how individuals actually behave online. We conducted a secondary analysis of passively recorded Internet use logs to examine the prevalence of health-related search engine use, the types of health information searched for, and the sources visited after the searches. The analysis revealed two key findings. 1) We largely support earlier survey-based findings on the prevalence of online health information seeking with search engines and the relatively minor differences in information-seeking behaviors between socio-demographic groups. 2) We provide a more granular picture of the process of HISB using search engines by identifying different selection patterns depending on the scope of the searches.

COVID-19 information seeking needs and behaviour among citizens in Isfahan, Iran: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Access to reliable and credible health information improves individuals' personal care level in crises, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It subsequently results in enhancing the community's health and reducing the health system's costs.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the COVID-19 related information seeking behaviour demonstrated by citizens in Isfahan, Iran.

METHODS

This research was conducted in 2020 and employed a qualitative approach using conventional content analysis. The research population was selected from almost different social classes of people in Iran using purposive sampling. The saturation point was reached at 24 semi-structured interviews. The data's soundness was confirmed based on the criteria of credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability proposed by Guba and Lincoln.

RESULTS

The findings revealed five subcategories and 25 codes within the information seeking behaviour. The subcategories included attitude towards the COVID-19 crisis, information needs, information resources, information validation and information seeking barriers.

CONCLUSION

People seek information from various resources to update their knowledge and become more prepared in the face of COVID-19. The findings can be used to develop policies on informing and preventing the dissemination of false information in crises, such as the COVID-19 crisis.

Quality of Late-Life Depression Information on the Internet: Website Evaluation Study

BACKGROUND

The internet can increase the accessibility of mental health information and improve the mental health literacy of older adults. The quality of mental health information on the internet can be inaccurate or biased, leading to misinformation.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the quality, usability, and readability of websites providing information concerning depression in later life.

METHODS

Websites were identified through a Google search and evaluated by assessing quality (DISCERN), usability (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool), and readability (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook).

RESULTS

The overall quality of late-life depression websites (N=19) was adequate, and the usability and readability were poor. No significant relationship was found between the quality and readability of the websites.

CONCLUSIONS

The websites can be improved by enhancing information quality, usability, and readability related to late-life depression. The use of high-quality websites may improve mental health literacy and shared treatment decision-making for older adults.

I Read It Online: Understanding How Undergraduate Students Assess the Accuracy of Online Sources of Health Information

Online sources of health information are a significant means by which the public educates itself about health and wellness. The purpose of this study is to investigate how undergraduate students evaluate and assess health-related websites for accuracy, as well as the self-reported factors used in identifying whether a website is an accurate source of information. One hundred and fifty-seven students participated by reviewing a series of 10 health-related websites and indicated whether they believed the website to be an accurate source of health information. Students completed an open-ended question to self-report how they made this determination. Results indicate that students were not able to accurately distinguish between credible sources of web-based health information and those sources that were previously categorized as not being credible sources. Analysis of self-reported qualitative feedback gave rise to 6 factors used to determine the accuracy of the websites reviewed. While students report using these factors, and these factors are consistent with previous research, this does not appear then to be translating to successful determination of a source's accuracy. Educating students in proper fact-checking and evaluation skills may be warranted to develop a generation of individuals who can be said to have better health literacy.

The mental health information needs of Chinese university students and their use of online resources: a holistic model

Purpose

This research aims to explore the nature of Chinese students' mental health information needs and to identify the online resources they use to meet those needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected from three Chinese research-oriented universities using semi-structured interviews and a survey. Twenty-five university students with varied backgrounds were selected for semi-structured interviews to explore the triggers and nature of their needs. Then, printed and online questionnaires were distributed to undergraduate and postgraduate students and 541 valid responses were processed for descriptive statistical analysis and variance analysis.

Findings

The following findings were incurred. First, the triggers of university students' mental health information needs mainly are mental health being in the news, personal interest in gaining mental health knowledge, mental health issues, required formal learning and preparation for mental health counselling. Second, eleven types of information are used, with an emphasis on employment pressure, study stress and self-understanding. Third, mental health information needs differ with mental health status and some social-demographic factors (including gender, urban or rural origin and educational stage). Fourth, information needs can be characterized as dynamic; complex and diverse but concentrated on a few types; ambiguous and hard for participants to define; private; stigmatized; self-dependent and substitutable. Fifth, Internet sources used to meet such needs are mainly search engines, Question and Answer platforms, public social media platforms. Finally, a model of mental health information needs was built based on the above findings to map the whole process from what triggers a need, to the content and characteristics of information need, and online resources used to meet those needs.

Practical implications

The paper provides suggestions for university mental health services in developing more tailored knowledge contents via effective delivery methods to meet diverse needs of student groups.

Originality/value

This research is novel in using empirical data to build a holistic model that captures the context and the nature of mental health information needs of university students.

Everyday life information seeking in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic: daily topics of information needs in social Q&A

Purpose

This study investigated information needs on COVID-19 by identifying topics discussed on social questions and answers (Q&A) about daily routines, problems, and health issues for survival. A layered model of contexts for everyday life information seeking (ELIS) was adapted for interpreting topics to better understand the contexts in which users could relate information needs.

Design/methodology/approach

Questions and answers posted on Naver Knowledge-iN were collected and analyzed during the first nine months following the outbreak. Time distribution, topic modeling, and association rule mining were applied to examine the topics on COVID-19 and their temporal variation.

Findings

Numerous topics related to the cognitive context (symptoms and masks) and situational contexts (international affairs, financial support, study, and work) were discovered. Topics related to social context were discussed moderately, but the number of questions on this topic increased with time. Strong associations were observed between terms related to symptoms, indicating their importance as a COVID-19 topic in health.

Originality/value

This study investigated topics of information needs using social Q&A data in which not only information inquiry but also information sharing coexist. The findings can help bridge the theory of ELIS to topic modeling in practice. The insights gained from this study can be used by information service providers for developing guidance and programs about how to survive during a pandemic.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0547.

Senior High School Students' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Information on Their Health in the Kumasi Metropolis

The study examines senior high school students' understanding and attitudes toward information on their health in the Kumasi Metropolis. Multiple sampling techniques (convenient and simple random sampling techniques) were used in the study. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 391 respondents for the study. Frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the sociodemographic data. Again, the study used Pearson's correlation coefficient to show the degree of relationship between the level of knowledge of health information and attitudes toward seeking and sharing health information. The study found students' knowledge of the causes and symptoms of malaria, cholera, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) to be appreciably high as a result of readings from textbooks and health professionals. Again, the study found that the students preferred sharing their health information with friends than their parents and schools' authorities. The study further found that the major sources of students' health information included health professionals and textbooks. Lastly, even though some of the students claimed internet sources to their health information, it was not a major source to the student body at large. The study recommends strong health systems on the campuses of senior high schools as they have become communities on their own as a result of the emergence of the free senior high school program. The monitored positive peer-counseling group should also be encouraged by the schools' management and by extension the counseling units for the students to share views on themselves, particularly on health issues where they deem fit.

Serious information in hedonic social applications: affordances, self-determination and health information adoption in TikTok

Purpose

Hedonic social applications have been increasingly popular among health information consumers. However, it remains unclear what motivates consumers to adopt health information in hedonic applications when they have alternative choices of more formal health information sources. Building on the self-determination theory and the affordances lens, this study aims to investigate how different affordances on hedonic social applications affect consumers' basic psychological needs and further influence their intention to adopt health information on such applications.

Design/methodology/approach

As TikTok demonstrated great potential in disseminating health information, we developed a model that we analyze using the PLS-SEM technique with data collected from a valid research sample of 384 respondents with health information seeking or encountering experience in TikTok.

Findings

The results suggested that health information adoption in hedonic social applications is significantly predicted by the satisfaction of consumers' basic psychological needs, namely autonomy, relatedness and competence. Moreover, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs is positively affected by affordances provided by the hedonic social applications. The hedonic affordances positively influence autonomy satisfaction, while the connective affordances positively affect relatedness satisfaction, and the utilitarian affordances positively support competence satisfaction.

Originality/value

The study indicates that hedonic social applications such as TikTok could be an important channel for consumers to access and adopt health information. The study contributes to the literature by proposing a theoretical model that explains consumers' health information adoption and yields practical implications for designers and service providers of hedonic social applications.

Where Do Online Games Fit into the Health Behaviour Ecology of Emerging Adults: A Scoping Review

Online video games are a common pastime for emerging adults (EAs). EAs are an age group that is of interest in health communication because habits formed during this life stage can cause or prevent disease later in life. Guided by three research questions, this scoping review identifies the current state of research into socio-ecological influences on physical activity and diet behaviours of EAs. The review also examines the role that online video games play within this behavioural ecology. In total, 112 articles were found that focused on behavioural ecological influences for physical activity and diet behaviour among EAs. Seven of these articles focused on the impact of online video games, although only in conjunction with their influence on physical activity, identifying a gap in understanding the influence of online games on diet. Results show that online video games are currently under-researched in terms of impacts on physical activity and diet despite the prevalence of the use of these games within the EA cohort.

Characteristics of the health information seeking behavior of LGBTQ+ individuals: a systematic review on information types, information sources and influencing factors

Purpose

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals' health information seeking is an important topic across multiple disciplines and areas. The aim of this systematic review is to create a holistic view of sexual and gender minority individuals' health information seeking reported in multidisciplinary studies, with regard to the types of health information LGBTQ+ individuals sought and information sources they used, as well as the factors influencing their health information seeking behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The review is based on the literature search in 10 major academic databases. A set of inclusion and exclusion criteria was applied to identify studies that provide evidence on LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking behavior. The studies were first screened by title and abstract to determine whether they met the inclusion criteria. The full texts of each relevant study were obtained to confirm whether the exclusion criteria were met. The reference lists of the included studies were manually scanned. The relevant information was then extracted from selected articles and analyzed using thematic content analysis.

Findings

A seed set of 3,122 articles published between 1997 and 2020 was evaluated, and 46 total articles were considered for further analysis. The review results show that two major categories of health information sought by LGBTQ+ individuals were sexual and nonsexual, which were further classified into 17 specific types. In terms of health information sources, researchers have reported that online resources, interpersonal sources and traditional media were frequently used. Moreover, 25 factors affecting LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking were identified from the literature.

Originality/value

Through evidence-based understanding, this review preliminarily bridged the knowledge gap in understanding the status quo of studies on LGBTQ+ individuals' health information seeking and proposed the potential research directions that information science researchers could contribute to this important area.

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

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.

COVID-19 Related Misinformation on Social Media: A Qualitative Study from Iran

BACKGROUND

Background: During outbreaks of diseases a great amount of health threatening misinformation is produced and released. In the web-2 era much of this misinformation is disseminated via social media where information could spread easily and quickly. Monitoring social media content provides crucial insights for health managers to manage the crisis.

OBJECTIVE

Objective: Given the misinformation surrounding COVID-19 outbreak, this study was aimed to analyze contents of the most commonly used social networks in Iran that is among the affected countries.

METHODS

Methods: A social media monitoring conducted through a qualitative design to analyze the discussions of social media users about the content related to COVID-19 transferred via Iranian medical faculty members` groups in Telegram and Whats App during Feb 20 to March 20, 2020 emphasizing the misinformation. Discourse analysis was applied and the written dialogues and discussions regarding misinformation about different aspects of the outbreak between medical faculty members all over the country were analyzed.

RESULTS

Results: Cultural factors, demand pressure for information during the crisis, the easiness of information dissemination via social networks, marketing incentives and the poor legal supervision of online contents are the main reasons of misinformation dissemination. Disease statistics; treatments, vaccines and medicines; prevention and protection methods; dietary recommendations and disease transmission ways are the main subjective categories of releasing misinformation regarding novel coronavirus outbreak. Consequences of misinformation dissemination regarding disease include psychosocial; economic; health status; health system and ethical ones. Active and effective presence of health professionals and authorities on social media during the crisis and the improvement of public health literacy in the long term are the most recommended strategies for dealing with issues related to misinformation.

CONCLUSIONS

Conclusion: This study contributes the management of COVID-19 outbreak trough providing applicable insights for health managers to manage public information in this challenging time.

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