Information-seeking Behavior Research Articles

The Influence of eHealth Literacy and Self-Efficacy on Online Health Information-Seeking Behaviour among University Students: Cyberchondria as a Mediator

COVID-19 has seen an increased reliance on online health information, raising concerns over cyberchondria, a condition characterised by excessive worry about health based on online information. This quantitative survey study examines the prevalence of cyberchondria and its correlation with eHealth literacy among 168 university students and their online health information-seeking behaviour. The results showed a significant negative correlation between eHealth literacy and cyberchondria, revealing that individuals with higher eHealth literacy were less likely to experience cyberchondria. This study also found that demographic factors such as age, gender, and education level were associated with cyberchondria. The findings suggest that eHealth literacy is an important protective factor against cyberchondria as individuals with higher eHealth literacy may be better able to critically evaluate online health information and avoid becoming overly anxious about their health. Thus, public health interventions should focus on improving eHealth literacy, especially for those with a heightened risk of cyberchondria, through online health information literacy courses and training healthcare providers on how to discuss cyberchondria with patients.

Effectiveness of Agricultural Information Disseminated Through Mobile Apps and Social Media

The present investigation was conducted during June, 2021 to February, 2022 in twelve villages under DAATTC, six each in Bhuvanagiri and Jangaon districts, Telangana, India on the use of social media as a source of agricultural information, use pattern, preference, purpose, ranking of different social media used, information processing and its effectiveness among farmers. Social media emerged as highly powerful tools in facilitating online social interactions and has shown tremendous potential in facilitating information exchange among individuals. These tools are meant for digital communication helping in interaction among a group of people. The data were collected from farmers of Bhuvanagiri and Jangaon districts, with a sample size of 120 respondents through a structured interview schedule. 84.16% of the farmers used social media platforms for getting agriculture related information, the most preferred social media were WhatsApp, Youtube and Facebook. Garrett ranking analysis revealed that information seeking was the most preferred purpose of social media use among farmers followed by chatting/connecting with peers and watching agricultural videos. 54.17% of the farmers preserved this information obtained from social media for future use. 45.00% of them discussed this information with progressive farmers and 42.50% of them discussed with friends. 72.50% of the respondents had enhanced knowledge about pest and diseases. The personal variable of the respondents’ such as education, farm-size, scientific orientation, social participation, income, innovativeness and information seeking behaviour were significant and positively correlated (at 0.01% level of probability) with social media use.

An investigation of mHealth and digital health literacy among new parents during COVID-19

IntroductionEspecially during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents were expected to understand increasingly sophisticated information about health issues and healthcare systems and access online resources as a part of their caregiving role. Yet little is known about parents' online digital technology use and digital health literacy skill. This study aimed to investigate parents' digital technology use, their self-reported digital health literacy skill, and demographic information as potential factors influencing their use of digital technologies.MethodsAn online survey utilizing convenience sampling was administered to new parents during the COVID-19 pandemic that inquired about their demographic information, digital technology use, and digital health literacy skills within Ontario, Canada.ResultsA total of 151 individuals responded to the survey; these were primarily mothers (80%) who self-reported as white (72%), well-educated 86%), heterosexual (86%) females (85%) with incomes over $100,00 per year (48%). Participants reported consistent and persistent online activity related to their parenting role and mostly via mobile smartphone devices (92%). Participants had moderate to high digital health literacy skills, greater than the Canadian national average. Almost half of participants reported negative health and well-being consequences from their digital online behaviours. There were no significant relationships between technology use, digital health literacy skill, and demographic variables.DiscussionThe COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the need for and importance of effective and equitable digital health services. Important opportunities exist within clinical practice and among parenting groups to proactively address the physical and mental health implications of digital parenting practices. Equally important are opportunities to insert into clinical workflow the inquiry into parents' online information-seeking behaviours, and to include digital health literacy as part of prenatal/postnatal health education initiatives.

Using Google Analytics with Health Information-Seeking Model to Evaluate the Design of Health Information Websites.

Health information websites can be useful for information seekers, and their design is crucial for the success of accessing the needed information. While web analytical tools (e.g. Google Analytics) used by such websites can provide descriptive measures of users, there is a disconnection between this data and the current understanding of health information-seeking behaviour. In this work, we leverage a theoretical model to interpret the Google Analytics data. Drawn on the visualisation of user behaviours based on this model, our research shows that better website design can be informed, and the evaluation of health websites can be performed on the basis of different user profiles.

Health information-seeking experience in people with head and neck neoplasms undergoing treatment: a qualitative study.

To describe the health information-seeking experience and its influencing factors of people with head and neck neoplasms undergoing treatment. This was a descriptive phenomenology study. Participants were recruited by purposive sampling. The semistructured interviews and all observation results were recorded. The data were analysed using Colaizzi's method. Fourteen participants were selected. We identified four themes that illustrate factors that influence the health information-seeking behaviour of participants: patients' awareness of health information needs, patients' competence, doctor-patient communication, and online advertising interference. We also determined the value of different types of information and patients' information needs and sources. These findings can help professionals understand patients' behaviours and think about how to deliver practical information support in a network environment to guide patients in continuous information seeking while taking specific factors into account.

Information seeking behavior on hepatitis B virus, and its associated factors among pregnant women at teaching and specialized hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection continues to be a major public health issue worldwide. Health information-seeking behavior is critical to obtain information about health, diseases such as the Hepatitis B virus, health risks, and health promotion and it has become a major concern of health policymakers. However, there is little evidence of information-seeking behavior on the Hepatitis B virus in Ethiopia. So, this study aimed to assess Hepatitis B virus information-seeking behavior and its associated factors among pregnant women at teaching and Specialized Hospitals, in Northwest Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant women at teaching and specialized hospitals, in Northwest Ethiopia from May 01 to June 01, 2022. A total of 423 participants were selected using a systematic random sampling method. The data was collected through an interview-administered questionnaire by kobo-collect software. Then export into SPSS version 20 for analysis. Descriptive statistics, bi-variable, and multivariable logistic regression analyses were done to identify factors associated with Hepatitis B virus information-seeking behavior. The proportion of information-seeking behavior on the Hepatitis B virus among pregnant women was 40.5% (CI = 35.7, 45.6). Education(diploma and above) [AOR = 3.3, 95% CI (1.31, 8.16)], more than one ANC visit [AOR = 5.99, 95% CI (3.20, 12.31)], smart-phone ownership [AOR = 4.1, 95%CI (1.35, 12.31)], internet access [AOR = 5.1, 95%CI (1.35, 15.60)], perceived susceptibility [AOR = 2.7, 95%CI (1.38, 5.31)], perceived severity [AOR = 3.7, 95%CI (2.06, 6.55)], and self-efficacy [AOR = 1.9, 95%CI (1.03, 3.73)] were factors influencing information seeking on Hepatitis B virus. The overall proportion of information-seeking behavior on HBV among pregnant women was low. To improve information-seeking behavior on HBV among pregnant women we should connect the women to the internet and technology. Creating women's awareness about the Hepatitis B virus severity and their venerability and increasing their antenatal care (ANC) visits, self-efficacy, internet access, and women's education can improve information seeking about the Hepatitis B virus.

Everyday Life Information Seeking

The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the everyday information seeking practices of urban teens and the benefits they get from these practices; moreover, demographic details of participants are also elaborated. In Pakistan many studies have been carried out on information need and seeking behavior of diverse groups, but not a single study has been done so far on everyday information seeking of Pakistani urban teens. This research is a humble endeavor to understand their daily practices that may lead to design systems for fulfilling their everyday information needs. For this purpose, a quantitative study was conducted employing a sample of 1000 urban teen participants who responded to the survey. Cluster sampling was done and the Likert scale was used to assess the written questionnaires, which were analyzed on the statistical software SPSS-21. These teens were from public and private schools of Pakistan. This data was collected by using Google forms. The results indicated that an easy access to teen’s preferred sources would play important role in their lives. It would be helpful for academicians to understand the teens’ ELIS behavior and reasons of their preferred information sources. This study will also be helpful for policy

Unveiling the Influence of TikTok Dependency on University Students’ Post-COVID-19 Health Protective Behavior

In the post-COVID-19 era, Chinese university students have become more reliant on TikTok for health information, which has shaped their health-related behavior. In order to investigate how university students’ reliance on health information on TikTok influenced their health protective behaviors in response to COVID-19, a survey questionnaire was designed to measure the following four constructs: TikTok dependency, health information seeking, TikTok trust, and health Protective behavior. A total of 426 respondents in China participated in the survey and the data was analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings indicate that respondents who have higher TikTok dependency tend to have higher post-COVID-19 health protective behavior. Study results also found that health information seeking and TikTok trust partially mediate the relationship between TikTok dependency and post-COVID-19 health protective behavior separately. To conclude, the results highlight the important role of TikTok as a social media platform for university students’ post-COVID-19 health protective behavior in Wuhan of China.

Communicating uncertainties regarding COVID-19 vaccination: Moderating roles of trust in science, government, and society.

This study examined how uncertainty affects information seeking and avoidance behaviors via information insufficiency in the COVID-19 vaccination context. It also investigated how trust in science, government, and society moderate the effects of information insufficiency. An online experiment with 131 Korean adults showed that uncertainty indirectly affects information seeking intentions via information insufficiency, which is moderated by science trust and governmental trust. It also showed that uncertainty indirectly affects information avoidance intentions via information insufficiency, which is moderated by social trust.

Risks Associated with Quality Care among Hispanic and White Populations-A Cross-Sectional Comparison Study.

Quality care in healthcare is a multifaceted concept that encompasses the execution of effective medical treatments and the patient's overall experience. It involves a multitude of factors, including effectiveness, safety, timeliness, equity, and patient centeredness, which are important in shaping the healthcare landscape. This cross-sectional study used the data from the Health Information National Trends Survey 6 (HINTS 6), which collects data on various aspects of health communication and information-seeking behaviors, to investigate the factors associated with quality care among White and Hispanic populations. All adults who participated in HINTS 6 and visited healthcare service at least once in the past 12 months were included in this study. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the association between quality care and delay or discriminated care with the adjustment of all other sociodemographic variables. We analyzed a total of 3611 participants. Poor social determinants of health (SDOHs) (OR 0.61, CI 0.43-0.88, p = 0.008), delayed needed medical care (OR 0.34, CI 0.26-0.43, p < 0.001), and discriminated care (OR 0.29, CI 0.15-0.54, p < 0.001) were all negatively associated with optimal quality care. Negative SDOHs could also be positively associated with delayed care and discriminated care.

Explaining Polarized Trust in Scientists: A Political Stereotype-Approach

Trust in science is polarized along political lines—but why? We show across a series of highly controlled studies (total N = 2,859) and a large-scale Twitter analysis ( N = 3,977,868) that people across the political spectrum hold stereotypes about scientists’ political orientation (e.g., “scientists are liberal”) and that these stereotypes decisively affect the link between their own political orientation and their trust in scientists. Critically, this effect shaped participants’ perceptions of the value of science, protective behavior intentions during a pandemic, policy support, and information-seeking behavior. Therefore, these insights have important implications for effective science communication.

Searching for the unexpected – understanding information-seeking behaviours of people new to prison visits

Often, when an offender is sentenced their family and friends find themselves in a state of uncertainty. At this point, family and friends of prisoners need support and often find themselves alone to navigate and learn the correctional system to gain visitation approval. It is unknown how people new to visitation learns the rules and processes of prison visits to gain visitation access. This study explores 21 prison visitors’ information-seeking behaviour to understanding how people new to prison visitation learns to navigate the system to obtain visitation approval and identify any factors that might imped their ability to information-seek, thus delaying or preventing visitation. Using Flexible Pattern Matching Analysis we identified five factors that can occur prior to individual’s need to information-seek, and one key factor that was common during the visit experience that can impact peoples ‘ability to information seek’. Implications for prison visitation policy and practice are discussed.

Development of a mobile health information application for immigrant women in South Korea

PurposeThe primary objective was to develop a user-centered mobile health application (app) tailored to the specific health information needs of among immigrant women from diverse backgrounds in Korea.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth interviews were conducted with 24 immigrant women to gain insights into their health information-seeking behavior. Based on the findings, a mobile app was designed and developed. A beta version of the app underwent validation by an MD and seven expert reviewers who assessed the app for content accuracy and conformance to mobile heuristics. Last, immigrant women (n = 12) evaluated the usability of the app.FindingsThe study revealed that the interviewed immigrant women had strong health information needs related to pregnancy and parenting. Most of them used multiple sources to find and verify health information. Language barriers were identified as a major obstacle to accessing and evaluating health information. The results of the user test indicated that the app effectively facilitated study participants' search for reliable health information, meeting their specific needs.Research limitations/implicationsThis research extended the literature by addressing the limited availability of mobile apps tailored to the health information needs of immigrant women in Korea.Originality/valueBy incorporating multilingual support and focusing on pregnancy and parenting information, the health app serves as a valuable tool to bridge the gap in health information access and to facilitate the well-being of immigrant women in the country.

Health Beliefs, Protective Behaviors, and Information-Seeking.

The outbreak of COVID-19 caused severe damage to public health globally and served as a stark reminder of the potential for future pandemics. Promoting protective behaviors to prevent the spread of any contagious disease thus remains a priority. Although research has shown that health beliefs can affect protective behaviors, few studies have examined the role of information-seeking in this relationship. On the basis of the health belief model, this research focused on whether health beliefs affect personal protective behaviors through health information-seeking behaviors. This cross-sectional study with a causal-comparative design used an online questionnaire to investigate the Taiwanese public's health beliefs, protective behaviors, and information-seeking behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Between September 2021 and January 2022, 322 valid questionnaires were collected. The results revealed that the effects of two health beliefs-self-efficacy and perceived benefits-on handwashing, social distancing, practicing good cough etiquette, and keeping one's environment clean and well ventilated were partially mediated by the frequency of official information-seeking. Results of this study support the regular and timely promotion of pandemic prevention measures through official sites. Promoting official information-seeking can help enhance protective behaviors.

Media literacy and parent’s acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccination for children

Vaccination is a prevention cure to stop COVID-19 spreading. In early 2022, the Malaysian government encouraged parents from preschool and primary schools to vaccinate their children to protect them from infectious viruses. The Malaysian government encourages parents of pre- and primary-school children to vaccinate their children vaccinated against COVID-19 virus. Although vaccination benefits children, some parents are hesitant about immunizing their children due to the opposite and different types of information they received about the immunization effect. This study attempts to identify the readiness and acceptance of vaccination to children among parents from Selangor state based on the availability of information tools used by parents in accepting or rejecting vaccination. This study employed a survey method. A sample of 200 parents who have children between the ages of one to 12 years old were selected to participate in this study. Convenient sample selection was carried out to reach the targeted and qualified respondents through email, social media and WhatsApp platforms. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The results indicated that most of the selected parents ready to vaccinate their children and in examining the trustworthiness of the information platform covering COVID-19 vaccination content, mostly trusted the content provided by the Ministry of Health (MoH). The findings also demonstrated a significant positive relationship between parent’s information-seeking behavior and readiness to vaccinate their kids.

To Access or Not to Access: Influencing Factors for Government Microblogging Information Seeking and Avoidance among Chinese Generation Z

In recent years, the effective enhancement of information communication effect through governmental social media in has emerged as a universally concerned issue on government governance within the social media era. As Generation Z represents the primary and frequent users of social media, understanding the factors influencing their behaviors regarding information seeking and avoidance on governmental social media platforms is essential (in China, the principal governmental social media platform is government microblogging). Employing the grounded theory methodology, 31 participants of Chinese Generation Z were recruited for the present study, and data were collected using an in-depth interview. The results showed that the factors influencing the information-seeking behavior of Generation Z towards government microblogging mainly include heuristic seeking factors (personal preference, emotional value, and following hot topics), systematic seeking factors (task demand and expert recommendation), and defensive seeking factors (defending stance, authority seeking, and impression management). The factors influencing the information avoidance behavior of Generation Z towards government microblogging mainly include heuristic avoidance factors (clickbait titles, content layout, excessive length, and high redundancy), systematic avoidance factors (selective ignorance and terminological density), and resource-limited avoidance factors (demand scarcity, time scarcity, and vitality scarcity). This study contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the government microblogging information behavior of Generation Z. Implications for government microblogging governance, strategy recommendations, and indicates directions for future research are discussed.

Women with ovarian cancer's information seeking and avoidance behaviors: an interview study.

Despite the importance of using information for ovarian cancer (OvCa) disease management and decision-making, some women with OvCa do not actively seek out information. The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that influence information seeking behaviors and information avoidance behaviors and information resources among women with OvCa and their caregivers. We conducted in-depth interviews with OvCa patients or caregivers of OvCa (n = 20) and employed deductive and inductive coding methodologies for analysis. Our analysis revealed 5 emerging themes associated with active information seeking behavior, 5 themes of passive information acquisition, and 4 themes of information avoidance behavior. Additionally, we identified participants' preferred information sources for OvCa management, such as health organization or government operated resources and web-based social groups. To enhance information access, strategies should be developed to motivate people with OvCa to seek rather than avoid information. The study emphasizes the significance of promoting patient-provider communication and leveraging strong social support networks for effective information acquisition. Our findings provide valuable implications for clinical practice and policymaking, emphasizing the need to improve access to information for individuals with OvCa. By addressing the identified factors influencing information seeking behaviors, healthcare professionals and policymakers can better support patients and caregivers in their information-seeking journey, ultimately enhancing disease management and decision-making outcomes.

Exploring farmers’ communication pattern and satisfaction regarding the adoption of Agromet advisory services in semi-arid regions of southern India

Agriculture is significantly impacted by the variability in weather patterns, imposing substantial constraints on farmers’ ability to make informed tactical and strategic decisions regarding their crops. Seasonal climate projections have shown potential for informing agricultural decisions, but the actual adoption of climate information by farmers has been relatively slow and limited. The present study was conducted with the objective of investigating the characteristics of adopters, the communication network, and the level of farmer’s satisfaction concerning the adoption and continued use of Agromet Advisories Services (AAS). Two semi-arid districts, namely Kurnool and Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, were purposively selected, wherein 280 farmers constituted the sampling frame. In this study, social network analysis (SNA) was conducted to examine the peer-to-peer communication patterns, while importance-performance analysis (IPA) was employed to evaluate farmer’s satisfaction, contributing to the continued adoption of AAS. The findings revealed that with regard to personality and communication characteristics, farmers were in the low category for their ability to cope with uncertainties and risk and even for their information-seeking behavior. Furthermore, the results showed farmers to be highly satisfied with the overall adoption of AAS. However, the IPA matrix revealed that among the nine attributes, the credibility of the forecasts needed refinement to promote sustained adoption. Excessive emphasis was placed on attributes such as the frequency of forecasts, which could be channeled into other initiatives. Peer-to-peer communication emerged as a crucial strategy in the adoption of AAS. Governments, non-governmental organizations, and extension functionaries should make a concerted effort to enhance the continued adoption of AAS by involving local stakeholders in sharing and participating in climate information production, forming farmer’s groups, and focusing on farmers’ literacy toward AAS.

Epistemological Beliefs and Information-Seeking Behavior of Graduate Students in Lanao Del Sur, Philippines

This study examined the epistemological beliefs and information-seeking behavior of 350 first-year Lanao del Sur graduate students. Descriptive statistics were used for frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Moreover, inferential statistics such as Chi-Square, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and regression analysis were used to test the significant difference and relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The salient findings include epistemological beliefs regarding the acquisition of knowledge, which got the highest mean, while the learning speed got the lowest mean. The level of information-seeking behavior was highest in preparing to present. The findings disclosed a significant difference in the information-seeking behavior of the graduate students when grouped according to their characteristics. Epistemological beliefs showed a positive relationship towards information-seeking behavior. This means that the null hypothesis is rejected. In conclusion, most respondents have the highest degree of epistemological beliefs towards acquiring knowledge and have the highest level of information-seeking behavior in preparing to present. Their’ information-seeking behavior varies according to their characteristics, which include sex, age, civil status, course enrolled in, number of hours spent in Internet search, and nature of work. The epistemological beliefs have a bearing on information-seeking behavior. It is then recommended that the graduate students be assisted in developing thorough and productive research skills. Second, schools should encourage librarian and faculty collaboration in teaching research methods to graduate students.

Information-Seeking and Risk Perception to Explain Infection-Prevention Behaviors: Conditional Analysis on Trust in Media and Government as Moderator.

This study aims to explore how the relationship between information-seeking and infection-prevention behaviors through risk perception changes according to the level of trust in the media and government. The study is a secondary data analysis of data from a cross-sectional national survey of 700 adults living in the community, representing different age groups, genders, and geographic regions. A validated questionnaire was used to assess information-seeking behaviors, trust in media and government, and risk perception to explain infection-prevention behaviors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A conditional analysis was conducted using SPSS and PROCESS macro (Model 7) to identify the effect of moderated mediation. The participants were fairly balanced by gender and age group. Most participants learned about COVID-19 through major broadcasts and television (56.7%) followed by internet media (21.7%). Information-seeking and risk perception together explained 17% of the variance in infection-prevention behaviors (F=63.95, p<0.01). The standardized indirect effect (β=0.04, BootCI 0.02, 0.06) was significant at 95% CI. The moderated mediation index (M=-0.04, CI -0.05, -0.01) indicates that trust in media and government influences the effect of information-seeking on risk perception and infection-prevention behavior even after controlling for age and gender. Information-seeking behaviors affect infection-prevention behaviors directly and indirectly through risk perception. Trust in media and government modulates this relationship, emphasizing the importance of establishing trust to promote effective risk communication and long-term public compliance with infection-prevention practices. Health authorities should focus on building trust through transparent risk communication and integrating diverse media perspectives. Further research is needed to explore the psychological and social mechanisms underlying trust in media and government through qualitative, cross-cultural comparisons.