Internet health information seeking is a team sport: Analysis of the Pew Internet Survey

Sadasivam, Rajani S.; Kinney, Rebecca L.; Lemon, Stephenie C.; Shimada, Stephanie L.; Allison, Jeroan J.; Houston, Thomas K.

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2012.09.008

Cited by 103 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Our study builds on previous research [9, 10, 16], highlighting the widespread nature of online surrogate health information seeking. Additionally, our findings add to the literature by providing a deeper understanding of the role played by surrogate-seekers in online health information exchange.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…In a study of Internet health information users conducted in 2003, 75% of respondents nationwide reported using the Internet in the prior 12 months to learn about a health problem belonging to a loved one [16]. Recent studies focus on surrogate-seeking activity among Internet health information users during the respondent’s most recent online search, potentially underestimating the prevalence of online surrogate-seeking behavior [10]. Data from the Pew Internet Study in 2008 showed that 56% of online health information seekers reported that during their most recent search, they were seeking health information on behalf of others [10].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to a recent Pew Internet poll [9], half of Internet users who go online for health information performed their most recent search on behalf of someone else (39% sought information related to someone else’s health or medical situation, an additional 15% looked both on their own and on someone else’s behalf). This behavior has been termed “surrogate-seeking” [10] or lay information mediary behavior [7,11] and has been defined as “those who seek information in a non-professional or informal capacity on behalf (or because) of others without necessarily being asked to do so” [11]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health Information-Seeking on Behalf of Others: Characteristics of “Surrogate Seekers”

et al. 2014

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Understanding the behaviors of surrogate-seekers (those who seek health information for others) may guide efforts to improve health information transmission. We used 2011–2012 data from the Health Information National Trends Survey to describe behaviors of online surrogate-seekers. Respondents were asked about use of the Internet for surrogate-seeking over the prior 12 months. Data were weighted to calculate population estimates. Two-thirds (66.6%) reported surrogate-seeking. Compared to those who sought health information online for only themselves, surrogate-seekers were more likely to live in households with others (weighted percent 89.4% vs. 82.5% of self-seekers; p < 0.05); no significant differences in sex, race, income or education were observed. Surrogate-seekers were more likely to report activities requiring user-generated content: email communication with healthcare providers; visits to social networking sites to read and share about medical topics and participation in online health support groups. On multivariate analysis, those who had looked online for healthcare providers were more likely to be surrogate-seekers (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.08–2.59). In addition to seeking health information, surrogate-seekers create and pass along communications that may influence medical care decisions. Research is needed to identify ways to facilitate transmission of accurate health information.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health Information-Seeking on Behalf of Others: Characteristics of “Surrogate Seekers”

et al. 2014

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“…These interactions involve the majority of US adults: among the 87% of US adults who use the Internet, 72% look online for health information, the majority starting with a search engine query. 2 Clinicians and other health professionals, the primary resource for consumers' health information, also frequently turn to online resources when looking for answers to their questions. 3 Insights into consumer and professional information needs and coverage of health issues provided by online resources are most frequently gleaned from search engine log analyses and surveys.…”

Section: Background and Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

Interactive use of online health resources: a comparison of consumer and professional questions

Roberts

Demner‐Fushman

2016

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association

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Objective To understand how consumer questions on online resources differ from questions asked by professionals, and how such consumer questions differ across resources. Materials and Methods Ten online question corpora, 5 consumer and 5 professional, with a combined total of over 40 000 questions, were analyzed using a variety of natural language processing techniques. These techniques analyze questions at the lexical, syntactic, and semantic levels, exposing differences in both form and content. Results Consumer questions tend to be longer than professional questions, more closely resemble open-domain language, and focus far more on medical problems. Consumers ask more sub-questions, provide far more background information, and ask different types of questions than professionals. Furthermore, there is substantial variance of these factors between the different consumer corpora. Discussion The form of consumer questions is highly dependent upon the individual online resource, especially in the amount of background information provided. Professionals, on the other hand, provide very little background information and often ask much shorter questions. The content of consumer questions is also highly dependent upon the resource. While professional questions commonly discuss treatments and tests, consumer questions focus disproportionately on symptoms and diseases. Further, consumers place far more emphasis on certain types of health problems (eg, sexual health). Conclusion Websites for consumers to submit health questions are a popular online resource filling important gaps in consumer health information. By analyzing how consumers write questions on these resources, we can better understand these gaps and create solutions for improving information access.

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“…When they were asked about the reliability of the information, 60.7% of them responded that it was partially reliable, 23.9% said it was reliable, and 4.3% of them replied that it was not credible. [16,17] Studies about people researching information from the internet for medical purposes have found that the relationhip between socioeconomic status and the frequency of internet usage was statistically significant. People with a high socioeconomic status access health sites more frequently than those with a lower socioeconomic status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preoperative Evaluation of Internet Usage Characteristics of Patients in an Anesthesiology Clinic: A Survey of 1000 Patients

Çevik¹

2018

South Clin Ist Euras

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Objective: This study was conducted to provide data about current preferences about internet use to obtain information about anesthesiology in patients undergoing elective surgical operations at a tertiary hospital. Methods:After receiving institutional ethics committee approval, 1000 consecutive patients presenting at the Anesthesiology Clinic were interviewed using a questionnaire as a part of their preoperative clinic visit before an elective surgical procedure. Informed consent was obtained from all of the participants. Statistical analysis of all of the completed questionnaires was performed using NCSS statistical software (NCSS, LLC, Kaysville, UT, USA). A chi-square test was used to evaluate categorical variables and a t-test was applied to assess continuous variables. Statistical significance was accepted at p<0.05. Results:Of 1000 patients, 659 (65.9%) reported routine use of the internet; 559 (55.9%) of these users were able to get the necessary healthcare information from the internet. In all, 636 patients (63.6%) searched for "anesthesia," 387 (38.7%) searched for "general anesthesia," 245 (24.5%) searched for "spinal anesthesia," 130 (13%) for "epidural anesthesia," 589 (58.9%) for "anesthesia-related complications," 498 (49.8%) for "anesthesia-related deaths" and 331 (33.1%) for "other medical subjects." The remaining 364 patients (36.4%) responded that they did not search for any subject related to anesthesia on the internet. Conclusion:Actual, evidence-based knowledge should be made available on the internet sites of health institutions to provide correct, understandable, and reliable information for the patients and their relatives. Preoperative information about the anesthesiology procedures and possible complications helps them to cope with anxiety due to uncertainty and lack of information.

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Internet health information seeking is a team sport: Analysis of the Pew Internet Survey

Cited by 103 publications

References 34 publications

Health Information-Seeking on Behalf of Others: Characteristics of “Surrogate Seekers”

Health Information-Seeking on Behalf of Others: Characteristics of “Surrogate Seekers”

Interactive use of online health resources: a comparison of consumer and professional questions

Preoperative Evaluation of Internet Usage Characteristics of Patients in an Anesthesiology Clinic: A Survey of 1000 Patients

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