scholarly journals The Digital Divide and Seeking Health Information on Smartphones in Asia: A Profile of Users (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaohui Wang ◽  
Jingyuan Shi ◽  
Kwan Min Lee
Keyword(s):  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Technological Factors ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Health Related

BACKGROUND Although recent developments in mobile health (mHealth) have elevated the importance of assessing the extent to which smartphones empower individuals to seek information online, research in Asian countries investigating the behavior of seeking health information on smartphones has been rare. OBJECTIVE The twofold goal of our study was to provide a comprehensive profile of mobile health information seekers in 10 Asian countries and to examine the individual- and country-level digital divide in mobile health information seeking in Asia. METHODS With survey data from 10 Asian countries (N = 9,086), we ran multilevel regression models to assess the effects of sociodemographic factors, technological factors, and country-level disparity on using smartphones to seek health information. RESULTS Respondents who were women (β = .14, p < .001), parents (β = .16, p < .001), employed (β = .07, p = .009), of higher social status (β = .10, p < .001), and/or from countries with less health expenditure (β = .20, p = .002) were more likely to use smartphones to seek health information. Technological factors, especially the technology innovativeness (β = .11, p < .001) and frequency of smartphone use (β = .41, p < .001), were important factors of such information-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS Among smartphone users in Asia, health information seeking varies according to individuals’ socioeconomic status, their concerns with the quality of online information, their innovativeness towards technology, and the government’s health-related expenditure in their respective countries. Although smartphones widen the digital divide among individuals with different socioeconomic status, they also bridge the divide between countries with varying health expenditures. Especially in developing areas, smartphones appear to be a particularly useful complement to seeking health-related information.

scholarly journals Online Health Information Seeking by Parents for Their Children: Systematic Review and Agenda for Further Research

10.2196/19985 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. e19985
Author(s):  
Christian Kubb ◽  
Heather M Foran
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Online Health Information Seeking ◽  
The Web

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.

Older Adults and Internet Health Information Seeking

2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamer El-Attar ◽  
Jarvis Gray ◽  
Sankaran N. Nair ◽  
Raymond Ownby ◽  
Sara J. Czaja
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Older People ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Internet Health Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Health Applications

The internet has created new possibilities for individuals to assume a more pronounced role in their own healthcare. This paper reports results from a study that examined the perceptions of older people of usability and trust in Internet health information. Information was also gathered on their ability to search for health information. Participants included 64 adults aged 60-82 years who were asked to answer health-related queries using websites that varied in usability. They were also asked to provide ratings of usability and of their trust in Internet health information. The results indicated that performance was lower for the “low usability” websites. Participants also rated these websites as having poorer layout, being harder to navigate, less useful and less understandable. The majority of the sample indicated that they would use the internet to find health information. These findings underscore the importance of considering usability issues when designing e-health applications.

scholarly journals Influencing Factors of Online Health Information Seeking in Selected European Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-55
Author(s):  
Elena Link ◽  
Eva Baumann ◽  
Annemiek Linn ◽  
Andreas Fahr ◽  
Peter Schulz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Personal Health ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Online Health Information Seeking

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.

scholarly journals Online Health Information Seeking by Parents for Their Children: Systematic Review and Agenda for Further Research (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Kubb ◽  
Heather M Foran
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Online Health Information Seeking ◽  
The Web

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.

scholarly journals Online health information seeking by parents for their children. A systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C Kubb ◽  
H Foran
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Online Health Information ◽  
Health Information Seeking ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Online Health Information Seeking ◽  
Search Behaviors

Abstract 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 importance of parental search behaviors, this area of research remains understudied and no comprehensive review of this research area has been conducted. Our aim is to summarize the existing findings on searched topics and search experience of online health information seeking among parents for their children with focus on building an agenda for further research and recommendations for public health. Methods We conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review of parental online health information seeking studies in the databases of PsycInfo, JMIR and PubMED. Studies from 1994 to June 2018 were considered. Results A total of 33 studies met the eligibility criteria, including 8665 parents. Findings suggest that parents worldwide are heavy online users of health-related information for their children across highly diverse circumstances. Parents report wishing for more guidance especially from their pediatrician on how to find online health information; however, studies found parents rarely report discussing online health information with their healthcare providers. Only five studies investigated health anxiety related to online health information and prevalences ranged from 14% and 52%, three examined theoretical models, and only three examined consequences of search behaviors more in-depth. Conclusions Results of this systematic review identify important gaps in theoretical models, risk factors to predict search behaviors, and health outcomes associated with parental search behaviors. An agenda for future research will be presented. Key messages Parents are heavy users of the health-related web, but more research is needed to support them in effective use. Tailored digital public health approaches could empower parents to make better use of online resources and improve health-related decision making.

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