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This paper aims to identify consumers' health information consultation patterns by analyzing information sources to better understand consumers' health information needs and behavior in the context of multisource health information.

Haodaifu Online, an online health consultation (OHC) website in China, was used as a research data source, and 20,000 consultation cases were collected from the website with Python. After screening and cleaning, 1,601 consultation cases were included in this study. A content analysis-based mixed-methods research approach was applied to analyze these cases.

The results indicate that with the participation of OHC, there are 15 patterns of consumer health information consultation. Besides OHC, health information sources reported by consumers included medical institutions family/friends and the Internet. Consumers consult on a wide range of health issues including surgical conditions obstetrical and gynecological conditions and other 20 subjects. Consumers have multiple information needs when using OHC: getting prescriptions, diagnosing diseases, making appointments, understanding illnesses, confirming diagnoses and reviewing costs. Through further analysis it was found that consumers’ health information consultation patterns were also significantly different in health issues and health information needs.

This study broadens one’s understanding of consumer health information behavior, which contributes to the field of health information behavior, and also provides insight for OHC stakeholders to improve their services.

This paper aims to focus on the information literacy skills and how the resources are being used by medical students of Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI), Pondicherry, India. The main aim is to determine the medical students use, purpose, search strategies and sources through which aware and literacy skills acquired. Further, this paper aims to bring out the problems faced.

A survey method was conducted through a structured questionnaire distributed among 120 medical students from first year to fourth year. Stratified random sampling was used for selection of students.

Findings of the study revealed that medical students largely used medical databases such as Bentham Sciences, ProQuest, PubMed and MedlinePlus. Further, the paper reveals that majority used health information for updating their knowledge and to acquire general information. The students’ information literacy level found minimal, which may be the reason majority of the students found difficulty in locating the desired materials followed by irrelevant information, inadequate e-resources and lack of awareness reported some extent.

The recommendations made based on the study are expected to be beneficial to the authorities and library administration of the surveyed institution to take appropriate measures for effective utilization of resources.

Changes in the US healthcare system in the past 20 years have meant increasing pressure on consumers to find their own healthcare information. Their search, amid an ever‐widening array of information resources, has profound implications for library reference services. A recent study of 350 public librarians in Michigan is, to date, the only investigation of librarian practices in health information provision in a large region of the USA. Examines services, queries, problems, librarian training and health collection resources. The findings have special meaning for academic librarians as they delineate their unique role in the health information system and, with public librarians, seek to devise effective means for responsive library service in today’s competitive health information resources environment.

Increasing attention has been given over the last decade to the topic of health care information for patients and the public. This is called consumer health information and it encompasses information about health and illness at a lay level; information about health care services available from the statutory and voluntary sectors; and information about choices in treatment and care. This is not a uniquely modern phenomenon. A study of self care and early lay medical publishing shows a robust and continuing tradition of people looking after themselves, without recourse to health professionals and with advice from various vernacular sources. However it is only since the 1970s that libraries and information services have developed to provide ready access for the public to consumer health information. The first consumer health information (CHI) services were established in the United States. By the late 1970s the first uk services had been established in Stevenage and Southampton. For most of the 1980s these were the only well developed CHI services in the UK library world, with most health information reaching consumers through a variety of non‐library advice agencies. The last two or three years have seen a flowering of CHI services, with the encouragement of official policies on consumer choice and quality assurance. There have been advances in the bibliographic control of the subject with the availability of new CHI databases. This emerging information specialism is now reaching maturity with a new concern with quality of service.

The purpose of this study is to explore the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in COVID-19 isolation hospitals.

A sample of 91 physicians serving in Egyptian isolation hospitals answered the study questionnaire.

Demographically, more than half of respondents were males. Over one-third of them are holding Doctor of Medicine (M.D), followed by one-third holding Master of Medicine (MMed). Respondents' age ranged from 30 to 60 years. Internal medicine is the most common specialty, accounting for nearly half of all physicians, followed by chest medicine and intensive care medicine. The information-seeking behavior of these three groups in their regular work is believed to be different, but since all of the participants are working in COVID-19 isolation hospitals, they should have the same information resources, Internet access and the same needs relevant to COVID-19 in order to make accurate clinical decisions. The physicians used traditional and electronic information sources to fulfill their information needs, the most important of which were to make a specific research, find an answer to a specific case, and deliver a medical lecture. Colleagues, coworkers, nurses and pharmacists were the most important channels pursued by Egyptian physicians to obtain information.

This study is the first study that focuses on investigating the information-seeking behavior of Egyptian physicians serving in isolation hospitals. Any findings resulted from this study may serve as a noteworthy reference that may be useful to the Egyptian health sector, experts, researchers, as well as policymakers in establishing strategic decisions for making the understating much better.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-08-2020-0350

This paper discusses the need for health information specialists who can promote patient empowerment by tailoring the information patients receive as they cope with illness. The objectives of this study are to distinguish the various stages of coping with illness, examine the informational needs of patients during these stages, explore how web information contributes to patient empowerment, and describe the potential role of the health information specialist.

In order to meet the study's objectives, a qualitative research method was used in which 110 in‐depth interviews were conducted with patients who told their story of coping throughout the course of illness. By distinguishing and understanding the different stages of coping with illness, we came to distinguish the distinct informational needs during the coping process, and understand how web information contributes to patient empowerment.

The process of coping with illness has four stages. In each stage, the patient's informational needs differ, as does his ability to absorb and process information. Health systems do not provide information to match the coping stage of the patient. Patients turn to professional (hospitals, universities) and unprofessional (forums, blogs) internet sites in their search for medical knowledge. The current study, integrated with other studies that show patients' difficulties using the internet, emphasizes the importance of the information specialist in the patient empowerment process.

The study will aid policy makers in the process of empowering patients by demonstrating patients' dynamic informational needs when coping with illness. This study proposes a role for the information specialists that will enable them to expand into the health domain. This role is the health information specialist, a professional who will, among other things, learn how health systems work, identify types of web information sources, assess medical site quality, recognize patients' coping stages, and adapt information to individual characteristics.

Patient empowerment (PE) is a key public health policy tool globally which is seen as unproblematic, but contains a number of unwarranted assumptions and unrecognised challenges to achieving effective implementation. Further, the theoretical foundations for understanding the impact of persuasive health communications on PE are weak. The purpose of this paper is to review these factors and to highlight major areas of concern.

First, the assumptions underpinning empowerment and the implicit theoretical foundations for active health information seeking behaviours are reviewed. This is then followed by a readability analysis of internet-based material relating to two general medical conditions, four chronic medical conditions and six patient information leaflets which was conducted to explore issues relation to the provision and readability of online health information.

The assumptions underpinning expectations of policy makers and health organisations regarding active health information seeking are shown to be problematic, with several potential impediments to effective PE implementation, including the fact that almost all of the online material reviewed is written in language too complex for the majority of the general public to comprehend, let alone act on.

Recommendations are made for guiding information seeking and a research agenda is outlined that would aid in strengthening theoretical underpinnings, expand knowledge and thereby help inform practice and policy debate regarding how PE can be improved.

This paper contributes to understanding of the challenges of effective health communication in the digital age by highlighting the need for a greater understanding of online health information seeking and the impact of limited health literacy and numeracy.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) on consumers’ decision-making (CDM).

Practical data were used in the empirical analysis collected from 484 consumer surveyed by means of a questionnaire. Statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, correlation, simple and multiple regressions were employed. A Cronbach’s alpha was used to confirm the suitability of the data collection instrument.

The results of the study indicated a positive significant relationship between DTCA and CDM. The results indicated that there was significant impact of healthcare awareness on CDM, but there were no significant impacts of drug–drug interactions, medical information source and consumer economical situation on CDM.

The data are also limited to a Jordanian market; therefore, generalizing results of a Jordanian setting to other countries may be questionable. Extending the analyses to other settings represent future research opportunities.

The current research may be considered as an initiative study that highlights the effect of DTCA on CDM in Jordan and in the Arab world. The results can provide the reference for further research about the relationship between DTCA and CDM.

This paper provides an overview of the range and development of health informatics, with examples from the literature world wide covering the types of information involved, the areas of application, the impact of evidence based medicine and other professional issues, integrated information systems, and the needs of the public, patients and their carers. While medical informatics certainly comprises a major part of health informatics it is not the main focus of this paper. Medical informatics is the older term and involves the use of information technology and computing specifically for medical science research, and the diagnosis and treatment of disease involving, for example, X‐rays, imaging, resonance, and magnetic scanning techniques. Rather, the scope of this review is the literature relating to the wider concept of the management of information through the interdisciplinary application of information science and technology for the benefit of patients, scientists, managers, staff, and carers involved in the whole range of healthcare activity.

Grounded in the stressor-strain-outcome model, this study aims to examine the impact of different information sources on information behavior among the Pakistani Z generation during the pandemic.

The study was quantitative, with 344 responses collected from Gen Z (those born in the late 1990s) using an online survey. The proposed structural model was tested with the help of SmartPLS 3.3. Information sources were divided into four categories, i.e. conventional media, personal networks, social media and Internet use through official health websites.

In the Pakistani context, conventional media was found to develop information overload among Zers, whereas social media and personal networks were positively associated with information anxiety. However, Internet use (official and medical websites) for health-related information-seeking significantly reduced information anxiety among people. None of these information sources are the reason for information avoidance but the sources affect either the independent predictor of information avoidance or the mediators. Whereas information overload is a predictor of information anxiety and information, anxiety is a mediator between information overload and avoidance behavior.

To avoid the negative consequences of abundant information, the authors need to promote and encourage the use of authentic information sources to make Gen Z skeptical, independent, critical and scientific thinkers.

Information sources' dynamics in terms of negative consequences of abundant information has not been explored previously at this magnitude, particularly from the perspective of a developing country.