Online health information-seeking behaviour of patients attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Lim, Hooi Min; Wong, Swee Shiuan; Yip, Kah Chun; Chang, Felicia; Chin, Adrian Jian Zhi; Teo, Chin Hai; Abdullah, Adina; Ng, Chirk Jenn

doi:10.1093/fampra/cmab099

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Researchers investigated how Malaysian patients searched for health information online and found that the most popular search engines were Google and Yahoo, while the most common websites were Wikipedia and MyHealth. 54,56 Less than half of the participants (12% and 47% reported by Lim HM et al and Maon et al respectively) were found to consult online health information with their doctors. 54,56 There are thousands of medical websites, some provide up-to-date medical news and reliable health information and some do not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Assessment of Public Breast Cancer Awareness among Females in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Hee,

Fatokun,

Abdullah

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background Breast cancer has now replaced lung cancer as the most common form of cancer, and its burden has been rising over the past decades, including in Malaysia. The future burden of breast cancer is predicted to increase to over 3 million new cases and 1 million deaths by 2040. The implications of the migratory flows and population spike in Klang Valley piqued our interest in finding out more about female breast cancer awareness, particularly their breast cancer knowledge and knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of breast self-examination (BSE). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between April to June 2021 on women who aged ≥ 20 years old and live in Klang Valley. A validated questionnaire of 61 questions about breast cancer awareness was distributed online (social media platform) and physical approaches (community pharmacy). The participant's overall KAP was categorized using Bloom's cut-off point. A KAP domain was considered sufficient if the score was ≥ 60% and insufficient if the score was < 60%. The Mann-Whiteny U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to determine the differences in median. The relationships between KAP domains were measured using Spearman’s correlation test. Results A total of 491 responses were collected. We found that most participants had adequate breast cancer knowledge (67.8%) and BSE knowledge (80.5%) and positive attitude of BSE (97.1%). However, their BSE practice was extremely poor (72.9%), and forgetfulness was the main barrier. Young women had poorer KAP scores than older women. Significant correlations were found between breast cancer knowledge–BSE knowledge (r = 0.682, p < 0.005), breast cancer knowledge–BSE practice (r = 0.384, p < 0.005), BSE knowledge–BSE practice (r = 0.372, p < 0.005) and BSE attitude–BSE barrier (r = -0.380, p < 0.005). Conclusion BSE remains a viable and practical alternative screening method for Malaysian women. Overall, the participants have adequate knowledge and positive attitude, but implement transformational changes is needed address issues such as low understanding among young women and poor BSE practice to down-staging breast cancer in Malaysia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Assessment of Public Breast Cancer Awareness among Females in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Hee,

Fatokun,

Abdullah

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…As this study was part of a larger study, which looks at the online health information-seeking behaviour among patients in a primary care clinic, we have used the calculated sample size of 379 from the main study. 4 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2 This change is also observed in low-middle income countries (LMICs); recent studies found that there is a rising prevalence of online health information-seeking and exposure in LMICs, including Malaysia. [3][4][5] eHealth literacy is the ability to access, understand, and appraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge gained to address a health problem. 6 eHealth literacy involves information, scientific, media, and computer literacies in evaluating the user's analytic and context-specific skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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eHealth literacy of patients attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia and its associated factors: A cross-sectional study

et al. 2022

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Background People are overloaded with online health information (OHI) of variable quality. eHealth literacy is important for people to acquire and appraise reliable information to make health-related decisions. While eHealth literacy is widely studied in developed countries, few studies have been conducted among patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Objective We aimed to determine the level of eHealth literacy in patients attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia and its associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted in an urban primary care clinic. We used a systematic random sampling method to select patients aged 18 years and above who attended the clinic. The eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS) was used to measure eHealth literacy. Results A total of 381 participants were included. The mean eHEALS was 24.4 ± 7.6. The eHEALS statements related to skills in appraising OHI were scored lower than statements related to looking for online resources. Higher education level of attending upper secondary school (AOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.05–6.11), tertiary education (AOR 4.05, 95% CI 1.60–10.25), higher monthly household income of >US$470 (AOR 1.95, 95% CI 1.07–3.56), and those who had sought OHI in the past month (AOR 1.95, 95% CI 1.13–3.36) were associated with a higher eHealth literacy level. Conclusions This study found a low eHealth literacy level among primary care patients in Malaysia. While the patients were confident in searching for OHI, they lacked skills in appraising them. Our findings inform the interventions for improving eHealth literacy in LMICs, especially educating the public about OHI appraisal.

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“…Online health information is often assessed via websites (including sites specific to patient information, blogs, and news media), online support groups, forums, and social media. 2 The online health information-seeking (OHIS) behaviour is common, with its prevalence ranging from 35-54% in low-and middle-income countries 3,4 to as high as 70-80% in high-income countries. 5,6 However, the evidence on the impact of OHIS on health outcomes has been conflicting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between online health information-seeking and medication adherence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

et al. 2022

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Background The evidence of the impact of online health information-seeking (OHIS) on health outcomes has been conflicting. OHIS is increasingly recognised as a factor influencing health behaviour but the impact of OHIS on medication adherence remains unclear. Objectives We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the associations between OHIS and medication adherence. Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL and Psychology and Behavioural Science Collection for studies published up to December 2020. The inclusion criteria were studies that reported the associations of OHIS and medication adherence, quantitative design, reported primary data only, related to any health condition where medications are used and conducted on patients either in clinical or community settings. A meta-analysis was used to examine the association between OHIS and medication adherence. Results A total of 17 studies involving 24,890 patients were included in this review. The study designs and results were mixed. In the meta-analysis, there was no significant association (n = 7, OR 1.356, 95% CI 0.793-2.322, p = 0.265), or correlation (n = 4, r = -0.085, 95% CI −0.572-0.446, p = 0.768) between OHIS and medication adherence. In the sub-group analysis of people living with HIV/AIDS, OHIS was associated with better medication adherence (OR 1.612, 95% CI 1.266-2.054, p < 0.001). Conclusions The current evidence of an association between OHIS and medication adherence is inconclusive. This review highlights methodological issues on how to measure OHIS objectively and calls for in-depth exploration of how OHIS affects health decisions and behaviour.

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Online health information-seeking behaviour of patients attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia: a cross-sectional study

Cited by 16 publications

References 32 publications

Assessment of Public Breast Cancer Awareness among Females in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Assessment of Public Breast Cancer Awareness among Females in Klang Valley, Malaysia

eHealth literacy of patients attending a primary care clinic in Malaysia and its associated factors: A cross-sectional study

Association between online health information-seeking and medication adherence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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