Trust in online health information: Purchasing medicine or vitamins online (preliminary analysis of the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey)

Abstract

In this technology-driven society, trust in online health information can play a pivotal role in an individual's health behavior including purchasing medicine or vitamins online. The National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) assesses American's health-related information behaviors and its links to health behavior change, attitudes, and knowledge in order to improve the American health information environment (Nelson, 2004). Analyses of the 2007 HINTS data reported that approximately 19% of Americans said that they have a lot of trust in online health information, approximately 48% of Americans have some trust in online health information, and approximately 17.47% of American have a little trust in online health information. However, only 14.47% of Americans were likely to purchase medicine or vitamins online. It was hypothesized that those who trust in online health information a lot are likely to purchase medicine or vitamins online. As a result, online users, who trust in online health information a lot, are more likely to purchase medicine or vitamins online (p<0.05). This study explains trust in online health information influences decisions regarding the purchase of medicine or vitamins online that might result in changes in health-related behaviors.