Health information seeking among people with multiple chronic conditions: Contextual factors and their associations mined from questions in social media

Abstract

The health-information-seeking behaviors of people affected by multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) who use social media to obtain information was explored. The contextual factors and latent relationships that shape the unique information-seeking behaviors of this population, focusing on commonly co-occurring chronic conditions: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity were investigated. Using a similarity matrix and co-occurrence network techniques 9,980 Yahoo!Answers questions posted by individuals concerned about MCCs were analyzed. Findings demonstrate the interactive nature of health-information-seeking among people with MCCs. Various interwoven personal and environmental factors reflect efforts of people with MCCs to obtain more personalized information, conveying the specific queries and needs of this population. Findings may help facilitate interactions between people living with MCCs and health care providers, as well as aid providers and health-information resource designers in providing more tailored and accessible resources, expanding upon user-centered approaches to health information service.