Previous studies have noted mothers' roles as active health information seekers, health managers, and caregivers for their family members. However, little is known about health information needs and seeking behaviors among Korean mothers of young children living in the United States. Using paper-based surveys, this study found that vaccination, child dental health, parenting, nutrition and diets, and physical exercise were ranked as the five most important health topics by the Korean mothers of young children aged 0 to 10 years old in this sample. Furthermore, this study revealed that mothers of boys evaluated the importance of two topics significantly higher than those of girls: circumcision (t=3.16, p < .01) and breastfeeding (t=2.47, p < .05). Also, age of child was an important factor influencing mothers' information needs in three health topics: child dental health (F=5.292, p < .01), physical exercise (F=7.107, p < .01), and child skin care (F=5.640, p < .01). Implications for developing health information services are also discussed.

This study aims to identify and examine research trends relating to mothers' health information seeking behaviors from 1994 to August 2015. Eighty-seven articles from multiple disciplines were selected systematically and reviewed in diverse aspects: characteristics of the articles, use of theories, information sources, and seeking strategies. This research topic has been given numerous attention since 1994. In particular, the number of publications skyrocketed since 2013. Twenty-two different theories and models have been utilized in examining mothers' health information seeking behaviors. Furthermore, four seeking strategies of mothers were recognized as asking questions, utilizing multiple sources, borrowing medical literature from libraries, and sharing experiences with friends. Implications for future research in this topic are discussed.

Previous studies have noted mothers' roles as active health information seekers, health managers, and caregivers for their family members. However, little is known about health information needs and seeking behaviors among Korean mothers of young children living in the United States. Using paper-based surveys, this study found that vaccination, child dental health, parenting, nutrition and diets, and physical exercise were ranked as the five most important topics by the Korean mothers of young children aged 0 to 10 years old in this sample. Furthermore, this study revealed that mothers of boys evaluated the importance of the following two topics significantly higher than those of girls: circumcision (t=3.16, p < .01) and breastfeeding (t=2.47, p < .05). Also, age of child was an important factor influencing mothers' information needs in three health topics: child dental health (F=5.292, p < .01), physical exercise (F=7.107, p < .01), and child skin care (F=5.640, p < .01). Implications for developing health information services are discussed.