U.S. nurses need to gain insight into factors influencing job satisfaction in Korean nurses to promote retention and quality care.

ObjectivesUtilizing social network analysis, this study aimed to analyze the main keywords in the literature regarding the health literacy of and the use of online health information by aged persons over 65.MethodsMedical Subject Heading keywords were extracted from articles on the PubMed database of the National Library of Medicine. For health literacy, 110 articles out of 361 were initially extracted. Seventy-one keywords out of 1,021 were finally selected after removing repeated keywords and applying pruning. Regarding the use of online health information, 19 articles out of 26 were selected. One hundred forty-four keywords were initially extracted. After removing the repeated keywords, 74 keywords were finally selected.ResultsHealth literacy was found to be strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices' and 'Patient education as topic.' 'Computer literacy' had strong connections with 'Internet' and 'Attitude towards computers.' 'Computer literacy' was connected to 'Health literacy,' and was studied according to the parameters 'Attitude towards health' and 'Patient education as topic.' The use of online health information was strongly connected with 'Health knowledge, attitudes, practices,' 'Consumer health information,' 'Patient education as topic,' etc. In the network, 'Computer literacy' was connected with 'Health education,' 'Patient satisfaction,' 'Self-efficacy,' 'Attitude to computer,' etc.ConclusionsResearch on older citizens' health literacy and their use of online health information was conducted together with study of computer literacy, patient education, attitude towards health, health education, patient satisfaction, etc. In particular, self-efficacy was noted as an important keyword. Further research should be conducted to identify the effective outcomes of self-efficacy in the area of interest.

In consideration of the rapid changes in the so-called information society of the 21 st century, about 80% of a total population in Korea has used the Internet. However, the social effect of the Internet and related devices has not been yet systematically studied in the literature. In healthcare as well, consumers' efficient use of the Internet for their positive health outcomes is becoming an issue. The purpose of this study was to analyze the medical subject headings keywords of the selected studies on consumers' use of Internet and mobile health information. For the analysis, social network analysis was used to provide basic information to present directions for future research on the field of interest.