Health Information Acquisition Research Articles

Do digital health information searches of individuals with chronic diseases affect health literacy and patient empowerment? A path analysis.

To analyze the relationship between chronically ill patients' behaviors in acquiring and verifying health information from a digital environment with health literacy and patient empowerment using a structural equation modeling approach. This study was carried out in a public hospital in Turkey between February and May 2023. The study consisted of 365 participants and used descriptive and correlation-based designs for statistical analyses. It also executed computations for descriptive statistics and correlations to carry out a path analysis to assess model fitness and to identify direct and indirect effects. This study identified that Web 1.0 and health information acquisition and digital verification variables statistically and significantly affected access to information, understanding information, appraisal (valuing)/evaluation, and application/use variables. The study also found that access to information variables was statistically significant on identity/identicalness, self-control, decision-making, and recognition and comprehension. The tested model fit the data well and adequately explained the direct effects of the variables. The study concluded by suggestively improving the chronically ill patients' media or digital literacy levels through special training to stimulate their internet use effectively.

외국인 근로자의 건강정보 취득 어려움과 관련된 요인

Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics such as country of origin, subjective health level, and health insurance subscription, length of stay in Korea, language difficulties when using medical care, experiences of discrimination, and social networks. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with difficulty in acquiring health information. As a result of the analysis, 49.5% of the sample experienced difficulty in acquiring health information. Factors associated with relatively high difficulty in obtaining health information include having a spouse, country of origin (Cambodia, Philippines, Myanmar, China), low subjective health level, short total length of stay in Korea, experiencing language difficulties when using medical care, experiencing discrimination, and a lack of interaction with Korean colleagues. Based on the results of this study, we proposed measures such as developing an intercultural communication competency education program for medical personnel, institutional changes in the employment permit system, and development of visual online information materials to increase foreign workers' acquisition of health information.

Pregnant Women's Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination: An Examination of Attitudes, Perceptions, and Health Information Acquisition

Aim Determining the impact of pregnant women's attitudes towards vaccination, perception of COVID-19 causes, and tendencies in acquiring health information from digital platforms on their vaccination status. Methods This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted between January 6 and February 28, 2022, and the sample consisted of 325 pregnant women. Data was collected using “Personal Information Form”, “Attitudes Towards the COVID-19 Vaccine Scale”, “Perception of Causes of COVID-19 Scale”, and “Obtaining and Verifying Health Information from Digital Media Scale”. Data analysis was done with the SPSS statistical program using independent two-sample t-test, chi-square test and, logistic regression analyzes to identify predictors. Statistical significance was accepted as p

The impact of internet use on health among older adults in China: a nationally representative study

Background and objectivesAging poses a significant challenge worldwide, with China’s aging status becoming particularly severe. What is the impact of Internet use on the health of the elderly? Existing studies have drawn conflicting conclusions that Internet use improves or harms health. The purpose of this study was to explore how Internet use affects the health of older adults, and the mechanisms and heterogeneity of these effects.Research design and methodsBased on Grossman’s theory, this paper constructs a health production function model. Using the data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2014 to 2020, we investigated the impact of Internet use on the health of older adults using fixed effect model and instrumental variable method. We also examined the mediating role of health information acquisition, lifestyle, and social interaction in these associations.ResultsInternet use is positively associated with self-rated health and negatively associated with psychological sub-health level. Internet use promotes the health of older adults by facilitating access to health information, healthy lifestyles, and enhancing social interaction. And the impacts are heterogeneous at the individual and regional levels.Discussion and implicationsWe should progressively enhance the level of internet accessibility for older adults, while concurrently addressing and narrowing the ‘digital divide’. By generating an abundance of superior health-related information, we can significantly improve health education tailored for the elderly. Additionally, it is crucial to offer extensive training opportunities designed to equip older adults with the necessary skills to proficiently navigate the internet.

Mechanisms of mental illness anti-stigma messaging matter: Leveraging mental health communication inequities among Latinx populations to understand what works and what we can do better

BackgroundSince 1950, public communication about the neurobiological-psychosocial basis of mental illness from the diathesis-stress model has promoted reception to treatment yet violent/dangerous stereotypes have increased during this period. Moreover, public mental health communication efforts have predominantly diffused in English-language media, excluding Spanish/Latinx media and its consumers from these efforts. To inform future mental health communication strategies, this study leverages high versus low diffusion of public mental health communication across English and Spanish/Latinx media to examine public mental health communication effects on stigma and treatment beliefs via neurobiological-psychosocial beliefs. MethodsA quota sample of 2058 U.S.-based Latinx residents ages 13–86 with diverse language/cultural media preferences was recruited to self-complete a survey about mental health information acquisition in 2021. Assessments ascertained frequency of Spanish/Latinx and English media use and mental health content scanning and seeking (α = 0.86–0.94); and items from the General Social Survey about mental illness neurobiological-psychosocial causal beliefs (α = 0.72)—genetics, brain chemistry, environment, stress; treatment beliefs—mental illness improves with treatment or on its own; and stigma beliefs—violent/dangerous and bad character stereotypes and unwillingness to socialize with a person with mental illness. Structural equation models estimated total, direct, and indirect effects of Spanish/Latinx and English media exposures on treatment and stigma beliefs via neurobiological-psychosocial beliefs, net individual/family factors. ResultsSpanish/Latinx media reduced, while English media increased, neurobiological-psychosocial beliefs (p < 0.01). Neurobiological-psychosocial beliefs, in turn, increased treatment and stigma beliefs (p < 0.01), simultaneously. Indirect pathways were also significant (p < 0.05). Proportion mediated on treatment beliefs was one-third for Spanish/Latinx and two-thirds for English media. Proportion mediated on stigma beliefs for all media exposures averaged ≥1. ConclusionsWhile consumers of Spanish/Latinx media report lower neurobiological-psychosocial knowledge that impedes treatment beliefs, consumers of English media report greater neurobiological-psychosocial and treatment knowledge and, consequently, more stigma. Innovation in public mental health communication is needed to counter stigma and health inequity.

Profiles of digital health literacy among university students and its association with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis.

Investigating the digital health literacy of university students can facilitate their effective acquisition of health information and adoption of appropriate protective behaviors. This study aims to explore the subtypes of digital health literacy among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with mental health outcomes. From 17 November to 14 December 2022, a stratified random sampling approach was used to conduct an online questionnaire survey on digital health literacy, fear of COVID-19, and depression status among students at Jilin University, China. A total of 1060 valid responses were obtained in the survey. Latent profile analysis identified subtypes of digital health literacy and linear regression analyses were used to examine the association of digital health literacy to the mental health outcome. Three latent profiles were identified: Profile 1-low digital health literacy (n = 66, 6.23%), Profile 2-moderate digital health literacy (n = 706, 66.60%), and Profile 3-high digital health literacy (n = 288, 27.17%). Results from linear regression demonstrated a negative correlation between digital health literacy and fear of COVID-19 (B = -2.954, P < 0.001) as well as depression (B = -2.619, P < 0.001) among university students. This study indicated that the majority of university students exhibit a moderate level of digital health literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the study validates a negative correlation between digital health literacy and mental health among university students.

Research on Public Health Information Acquisition Based on Bibliometrics and Visual Analysis

Research on Public Health Information Acquisition Based on Bibliometrics and Visual Analysis

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION-SEEKING BEHAVIORS AMONG US-BASED LATINO ADULTS AGES 50–86

Abstract Introduction As U.S.-based Latino populations disproportionately experience chronic disease and age earlier than their non-Latino white counterparts, attentiveness to knowledge gaps in health communication is critical to address health disparities among Latino older adults. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional survey among U.S.-based Latinos ages 50-86 (N=274; 2021) that measured physical and mental health information seeking across four sources—TV/radio/print-media, Internet/social-media, family/friends, and healthcare providers. Linear regression models examined patterns of personal, family, and mental health factors on each information seeking outcome. Results Foreign-born Latinos had lower odds of mental health info-seeking on Internet/social media (p&amp;lt; 0.05) than U.S.-born Latinos. Compared to higher educational attainment, low education reduced odds of physical/mental health info-seeking in all media sources (p&amp;lt; 0.05). Family mental health history vs none saw 3-5 times the odds of physical/mental health info-seeking to all sources (p&amp;lt; 0.01). Additionally, moderate/severe mental health vs mild/none was associated with 2-3 times the odds of physical/mental health info-seeking among family/friends and healthcare providers (p&amp;lt; 0.01). English media use increased odds of physical health info-seeking in TV/radio/print-media and family/friends (p&amp;lt; 0.05), while Spanish/English media use increased odds of mental health info-seeking to healthcare providers (p&amp;lt; 0.05). Conclusions Latino older adults report diverse yet unique patterns in health information acquisition. Those with self/familial mental illness especially seek health information more often than Latinos without a lived experience. Findings demonstrate the need to apply culturally appropriate health communication strategies to address the needs of older Latino adults, with special focus on families coping with mental illnesses.

PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS AND NONCOMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN OLDER SUB-SAHARA AFRICANS

Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the fastest-growing proportion of older individuals globally. Concurrently, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are a growing burden in the SSA aging population. An essential step towards reducing NCDs is an enhanced understanding of the various diseases and discussing their psychosocial risk factors. This session will provide a unique depiction of the occurrence and measurements of NCDs and their associations with psychosocial factors in aging SSA adults. Dr. Muruthi and colleagues present the psychometric properties of a Swahili-translated Kessler 6 scale in aging Kenyans. Drs Nwakasi and Esiaka discuss HIV health information acquisition among older Nigerian women who are cancer survivors. Dr. Esiaka and colleagues discuss psychosocial determinants of early cancer detection and survivorship among older Nigerian men. Drs. Adamek and Dr. Kotecho will present information about the extent of depression among older adults in Sub-Saharan Africa and an understanding of the factors contributing to high rates of geriatric depression. Findings from this session will help elucidate our understanding of NCDs and related psychosocial factors, a necessary step for developing robust evidence-based interventions to reduce non-communicable diseases (and their effects) among aging people in SSA.

A deep learning and clustering‐based topic consistency modeling framework for matching health information supply and demand

AbstractImproving health literacy through health information dissemination is one of the most economical and effective mechanisms for improving population health. This process needs to fully accommodate the thematic suitability of health information supply and demand and reduce the impact of information overload and supply–demand mismatch on the enthusiasm of health information acquisition. We propose a health information topic modeling analysis framework that integrates deep learning methods and clustering techniques to model the supply‐side and demand‐side topics of health information and to quantify the thematic alignment of supply and demand. To validate the effectiveness of the framework, we have conducted an empirical analysis on a dataset with 90,418 pieces of textual data from two prominent social networking platforms. The results show that the supply of health information in general has not yet met the demand, the demand for health information has not yet been met to a considerable extent, especially for disease‐related topics, and there is clear inconsistency between the supply and demand sides for the same health topics. Public health policy‐making departments and content producers can adjust their information selection and dissemination strategies according to the distribution of identified health topics, thereby improving the effectiveness of public health information dissemination.

Aging in cyberspace: Exploring health information acquisition among older WeChat users

A growing number of older adults are using social media to acquire health information through active information search (i.e., information seeking) and routine exposure to media sources (i.e., information scanning). In China, as in other societies, social media platforms have become a mixed source of credible and unreliable health information that could impact older adults’ health self-management. Understanding factors associated with their use of social media to acquire health information is crucial for promoting smart online information practices among older adults. Against this backdrop, this study explored the association between two cognitive factors (outcome expectancy and efficacy) and two relational factors (social support and health opinion leadership) with older WeChat users’ health information seeking and scanning behaviors. We conducted a paper-and-pencil survey with 407 older adults aged 60 and above ( M = 68.54, SD = 6.21) in an eastern city in China. The results indicated that older WeChat users’ health information scanning was associated with their health status, efficacy, social support, and health opinion leadership. Additionally, their health information seeking was associated with their education, efficacy, health opinion leadership, and frequency of health information scanning. This paper concludes with discussions on the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.

LCA-YOLOv8-Seg: An Improved Lightweight YOLOv8-Seg for Real-Time Pixel-Level Crack Detection of Dams and Bridges

Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide a solution for dam and bridges structural health information acquisition, but problems like effective damage-related information extraction also occur. Vision-based crack detection methods can replace traditional manual inspection and achieve fast and accurate crack detection. This paper thereby proposes a lightweight, real-time, pixel-level crack detection method based on an improved instance segmentation model. A lightweight backbone and a novel efficient prototype mask branch are proposed to decrease the complexity of the model and maintain the accuracy of the model. The proposed method attains an accuracy of 0.945 at 129 frames per second (FPS). Moreover, our model has smaller volume, lower computational requirements and is suitable for low-performance devices.

Post-stroke experiences and health information needs among Chinese elderly ischemic stroke survivors in the internet environment: a qualitative study.

Elderly stroke survivors are encouraged to receive appropriate health information to prevent recurrences. After discharge, older patients seek health information in everyday contexts, examining aspects that facilitate or impair healthy behavior. To explore the experiences of older stroke patients when searching for health information, focusing on search methods, identification of health information, and difficulties faced during the search process. Using the qualitative descriptive methodology, semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen participants. Participants associated the health information they sought with concerns about future life prospects triggered by perceived intrusive changes in their living conditions. Based on the participants' descriptions, four themes were refined: participants' motivation to engage in health information acquisition behavior, basic patterns of health information search, source preferences for health information, and difficulties and obstacles in health information search, and two search motivation subthemes, two search pattern subthemes, four search pathway subthemes, and four search difficulty subthemes were further refined. Older stroke patients face significant challenges in searching for health information online. Healthcare professionals should assess survivors' health information-seeking skills, develop training programs, provide multichannel online access to health resources, and promote secondary prevention for patients by improving survivors' health behaviors and self-efficacy.

Digitale, personalisierte Gesundheitsinformationsangebote von Ärzt*innen: Ergebnisse einer Befragung von Patient*innen und Ärzt*innen zu Akzeptanz und Anforderungen

ZusammenfassungHintergrundDie Aneignung von Gesundheitsinformationen ist grundlegend für die Verantwortungsübernahme von Patient*innen. Um dies zu unterstützen, müssen neue Wege der Informationsbereitstellung gefunden werden. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden die digitale, personalisierte Bereitstellung von Gesundheitsinformationen durch Ärzt*innen betrachtet und ihre Verbreitung sowie die Nutzungsintention und Anforderungen von Patient*innen und Ärzt*innen untersucht.MethodenDurchgeführt wurden jeweils eine Online-Befragung einer für die deutsche Bevölkerung stratifizierten Stichprobe von Patient*innen (N = 1000) sowie eine Online-Befragung von Ärzt*innen (N = 364) zum Thema digitale, personalisierte Gesundheitsinformationsangebote. Es wurden die Art der Informationsbereitstellung im ärztlichen Setting, die Nutzungsintention sowie Anforderungen an digitale Informationsangebote erfasst.ErgebnisseDigitale, personalisierte Informationsangebote sind bisher selten. Patient*innen würden ein solches Angebot allerdings befürworten, während Ärzt*innen skeptischer eingestellt sind. Die Patient*innen legen Wert auf die Nutzerfreundlichkeit und die Informationsqualität. In Bezug auf die Darstellungsform werden Texte tendenziell wichtiger eingeschätzt als Videos. Ärzt*innen ist dagegen wichtig, dass das Angebot von einem oder einer vertrauenswürdigen Anbieter*in stammt, leitlinienkonform und kostenlos ist.DiskussionDie Potenziale der digitalen Transformation der Informationsbereitstellung werden bisher nur bedingt ausgeschöpft. Während bei Patient*innen die Grundlage einer erfolgreichen Implementierung gegeben zu sein scheint, gilt es, aufseiten der Ärzt*innen Vorbehalte abzubauen, den Nutzen entsprechender Angebote zu kommunizieren und systemische Anreize zu schaffen.

Behavior patterns and influencing factors: Health information acquisition behavior of Chinese senior adults on WeChat

Due to the gradual adoption of WeChat by older adults in China and their interest in health information, Chinese older people started to acquire health information through WeChat. We explored the specific patterns and influencing factors of the elderly's health information acquisition behavior senior adults. The cross-sectional study collected self-reported data with survey (N = 336) in the southeast of China, Zhejiang province. The findings of this study extend the previous research by suggesting that elderly adults' health information acquisition behavior has three patterns (actively seeking, passively browsing, and long-term collecting). These findings contribute to a better understanding of digital literacy, three dimensions of health literacy and their relationship with three specific patterns of health acquisition behavior. This study also provides practical insights related to narrow the technological gap of the older adults, improve their e-Health literacy of the elderly, and purify the health information environment in the network.

Retracted: Analysis on Health Information Acquisition of Social Network Users by Opinion Mining: Case Analysis Based on the Discussion on COVID-19 Vaccinations.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2021/2122095.].

Measuring media-related health and mental health information acquisition among Latino adults in the United States.

We developed and evaluated new media-related health information acquisition measures for U.S.-based Latino populations. In 2021, a sample of U.S.-based Latino adults (N=1574) self-completed a 20-min survey of health information acquisition measures across three language/cultural dimensions: Spanish media, Latino-tailored media in English, and general media in English. Socio-demographics were also ascertained. Means and standard deviations for the health acquisition measures were adjusted for age and sex and reported across nativity status. The sample was diverse across age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, migration, and language competency. Internal consistency reliability of developed scales was excellent overall and within age, gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic subgroups (Cronbach's alphas=0.86-0.94). English media scales had higher means overall indicating higher prolonged quantity (i.e., dosage) than Spanish media scales. In contrast, standard deviations for Spanish media scales were higher overall indicating broader reach at lower doses than English media scales. Findings suggest English-language media is popular among Latino populations overall. However, Spanish-language media retains broad reach through both passive and active exposure. Our findings demonstrate the value of including more nuanced measurement of health information acquisition such as the scales developed in this study to improve health promotion among Latino populations.

Intersectionality of Race and Question-Asking in Women After Right Hemisphere Brain Damage.

Atypical pragmatic language can impede quality health care access. Right hemisphere brain damage (RHD) results in changes in pragmatic language use; however, little is known about whether there are racial/ethnic influences. Recent research indicated differences in question-asking when RHD survivors were compared with healthy controls, prompting the current examination of question production in women by race/ethnicity and the presence of RHD. Participants were eight Black and eight White women who sustained a single right hemisphere stroke at least 6 months prior to data collection (2016-2020), and eight Black and eight White control participants from the Right Hemisphere Damage Bank (https://rhd.talkbank.org). Videos of informal, first-encounter conversational discourse tasks were transcribed and coded. Analyses were conducted for frequency of questions and question type. Race/ethnicity had a statistically significant effect on the total number of questions and number of content and polar questions. The mean total of questions, number of content questions, and mean number of polar questions for Black participants was significantly less than White participants. There was less variability in question type for Black participants than White participants, and a tendency for Black participants to ask fewer questions regardless of RHD or control status. Acquisition of health information and ensuing health care might be less fruitful for Black women communicating with someone who may not know to conduct comprehension checks and be proactive in provision of information. To be culturally responsive to Black patients with communication disorders, providers might apply this awareness of reduced question-asking to their strategies to improve patient-provider communication. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.21809475.

ShuffleNet-Triplet: A lightweight RE-identification network for dairy cows in natural scenes

Individual dairy cow identification is the basis of accurate animal husbandry. It also provides technical support for cow breeding, health information acquisition, and dairy product traceability. However, poor portability caused by repeated training for newly added individuals and a large number of model parameters is an obstacle to the practicability of current algorithms. The idea of searching in RE-identification can avoid repeated training. In this research, an RE-identification network “ShuffleNet-Triplet” was proposed for individual dairy cow identification while avoiding repeated training. ShuffleNet v2 was adopted for feature extraction to reduce the parameters. The triplet loss and cross-entropy loss were organically combined to enhance the network's ability to distinguish similar individuals. BNNeck was adopted to reduce the conflict between two loss functions and proved to effectively improve the network's identification ability. The accuracy rate of the model in the training set was 82.93%. Without retraining the network, the CMC-1 and mAP indicators of the RE-identification network were 94.12% and 73.30% for new dairy cattle individuals. More importantly, the model size was only 5.72 M. It was decreased by 180.28 M compared with the maximum model in the comparison experiment. Compared with the single adoption of the loss function, the proposed model’s mAP increased by 2.86% and 1.18%, respectively. BNNeck reduced the loss function conflict and increased the mAP by 6.88%. The model effectively overcomes interference factors such as multi-individual presence, fences, and different postures. All experiments proved the practical value of the proposed model.

Accuracy of COVID-19 relevant knowledge among youth: Number of information sources matters.

Can comics effectively convey scientific knowledge about COVID-19 to youth? What types and how many sources of information did youth have about COVID-19 during the pandemic? How are sources of information associated with accurate COVID-19 knowledge? To answer these questions, we surveyed youth in grades 5-9 in a Midwestern United States school district in the winter of 2020-2021. The online survey used measures of COVID-19 knowledge and sources, with an embedded experiment on COVID-19 relevant comics. Guided by an integrated science capital and just-in-time health and science information acquisition model, we also measured level of science capital, science identity, and utility of science for health and society. The school district protocol required parental consent for participation; 264 of ~15,000 youth participated. Youth were randomly assigned one of four comic conditions before receiving an online survey. Results indicate that, similar to knowledge gains in comic studies on other science topics, reading the comics was associated with 7 to 29% higher accuracy about COVID-19. We found that youth reported getting information about COVID-19 from between 0-6 sources including media, family, friends, school, and experts. The bivariate positive association of news versus other sources with accuracy of knowledge did not persist in the full model, yet the positive association of a higher number of sources and accuracy did persist in the multivariate models. The degree of valuing the utility of science for their health moderated the number of sources to accuracy association. Those with less value on science for health had a stronger positive association of number of sources and accuracy in COVID-19 knowledge. We conclude that during a pandemic, even with health and science information ubiquitous in the news media, increasing youth access to a variety of accurate sources of information about science and health can increase youth knowledge.