Health information seeking and its associated factors in Ethiopia: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundUniversal health coverage demands universal access to health information. However, in developing nations, a lack of health information continues to be a significant obstacle to evidence-based health care. As a result, the objective of this study was to determine the pooled level of health information seekers in Ethiopia and its associated factors. MethodsStudies were found using search engines in Medline, PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, and African journal online (AJOL), HINARI, Science direct, and web-science, all following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA). The study was performed using STATA version 11 software. The index of heterogeneity (I2) was used to assess heterogeneity amongst the included papers. A visual inspection of the funnel plot and Egger's regression test were used to search for potential publication bias. The pooled effect size of each study is estimated using a random-effect model meta-analysis with a 95% confidence interval. ResultsEight out of the 197 assessed studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The estimated prevalence of health information seekers in Ethiopia was 50.45% (95% CI: 39.68–61.23). According to the subgroup analysis, health information seekers accounted for 52.48% in the Amhara area, 57.45% among health professionals, and 53.77% in studies conducted after 2015. Furthermore, having computer and internet access and being computer literate were significant associations with health information seeking in Ethiopia. ConclusionThe overall pooled prevalence of health information seekers in Ethiopia was relatively low. Having computer and internet access and being computer literate was a positive association with health information seeking. As a result, offering computer and internet access and a training package on basic computer skills could be recommended to raise the overall number of health information seekers in Ethiopia.