Online health information seeking by adults hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes: Who looks for information, and who discusses it with healthcare providers?

Waring, Molly E.; McManus, David D.; Amante, Daniel J.; Darling, Chad E.; Kiefe, Catarina I.

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2018.06.016

Cited by 28 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…However, none of these factors were significantly associated with interest in an online patient community after adjusting for other factors, suggesting that this variance was captured by these other variables, such as frequency of Facebook use and online health information seeking. Indeed, in this study, we found that patients with depressive symptoms were more likely to use Facebook, and in previous research, patients who reported difficulty accessing medical care [32] or who reported problems with care coordination or care that was not patient-centered [33] were more likely to engage in online health information seeking or other online activities related to their health.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Characteristics Associated With Facebook Use and Interest in Digital Disease Support Among Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data From the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF) Cohort

Waring¹,

Hills²,

Lessard³

et al. 2019

JMIR Cardio

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BackgroundOnline support groups for atrial fibrillation (AF) and apps to detect and manage AF exist, but the scientific literature does not describe which patients are interested in digital disease support.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to describe characteristics associated with Facebook use and interest in digital disease support among older patients with AF who used the internet.MethodsWe used baseline data from the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF), a prospective cohort of older adults (≥65 years) with AF at high stroke risk. Participants self-reported demographics, clinical characteristics, and Facebook and technology use. Online patients (internet use in the past 4 weeks) were asked whether they would be interested in participating in an online support AF community. Mobile users (owns smartphone and/or tablet) were asked about interest in communicating with their health care team about their AF-related health using a secure app. Logistic regression models identified crude and multivariable predictors of Facebook use and interest in digital disease support.ResultsOnline patients (N=816) were aged 74.2 (SD 6.6) years, 47.8% (390/816) were female, and 91.1% (743/816) were non-Hispanic white. Roughly half (52.5%; 428/816) used Facebook. Facebook use was more common among women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.21, 95% CI 1.66-2.95) and patients with mild to severe depressive symptoms (aOR 1.50, 95% CI 1.08-2.10) and less common among patients aged ≥85 years (aOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.15-0.48). Forty percent (40.4%; 330/816) reported interest in an online AF patient community. Interest in an online AF patient community was more common among online patients with some college/trade school or Bachelors/graduate school (aOR 1.70, 95% CI 1.10-2.61 and aOR 1.82, 95% CI 1.13-2.92, respectively), obesity (aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.52), online health information seeking at most weekly or multiple times per week (aOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.32-2.56 and aOR 2.78, 95% CI 1.86-4.16, respectively), and daily Facebook use (aOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.26-2.46). Among mobile users, 51.8% (324/626) reported interest in communicating with their health care team via a mobile app. Interest in app-mediated communication was less likely among women (aOR 0.48, 95% CI 0.34-0.68) and more common among online patients who had completed trade school/some college versus high school/General Educational Development (aOR 1.95, 95% CI 1.17-3.22), sought online health information at most weekly or multiple times per week (aOR 1.86, 95% CI 1.27-2.74 and aOR 2.24, 95% CI 1.39-3.62, respectively), and had health-related apps (aOR 3.92, 95% CI 2.62-5.86).ConclusionsAmong older adults with AF who use the internet, technology use and demographics are associated with interest in digital disease support. Clinics and health care providers may wish to encourage patients to join an existing online support community for AF and explore opportunities for app-mediated patient-provider communication.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Characteristics Associated With Facebook Use and Interest in Digital Disease Support Among Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data From the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF) Cohort

Waring¹,

Hills²,

Lessard³

et al. 2019

JMIR Cardio

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“…Studies have shown that an increasing number of people tend to use the internet to obtain health care information [ 10 - 12 ], including older adults [ 13 , 14 ]. One study revealed that 57% of adults with acute coronary syndromes in 6 hospitals in Massachusetts and Georgia sought health information online [ 11 ]. Another survey found that 88% of participants with opioid treatment searched for information on medical topics online [ 10 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the Internet on Medical Decisions of Chinese Adults: Longitudinal Data Analysis

Ma¹,

Sun²,

Cui³

et al. 2020

J Med Internet Res

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Background The internet has caused the explosive growth of medical information and has greatly improved the availability of medical knowledge. This makes the internet one of the main ways for residents to obtain medical information and knowledge before seeking medical treatment. However, little has been researched on how the internet affects medical decisions. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between internet behaviors and medical decisions among Chinese adults aged 18 or over, including whether to go to the hospital and which level of medical institution to choose. Methods With the adult residents (≥18 years old) in 12 regions including urban and rural areas taken as the research objects, the differences in medical choices of adults with various characteristics were analyzed, and generalized linear mixed models were adopted to analyze the longitudinal data of the China Health Nutrition Survey from 2006 to 2015. Results Adult groups with different ages, genders, education levels, regions, places of residence, severities of illness and injury, years of suffering from hypertension, and history of chronic diseases showed diverse medical decisions, and the differences were statistically significant (P<.05). After controlling for these potential confounding factors and taking self-care as the reference, the probability of Chinese adults who participated in online browsing activities selecting hospital care was 0.82 (95% CI 0.69-0.98; P=.03) times that of residents who did not participate in online browsing activities. In terms of medical institution choices, adults who participated in online browsing activities were 1.86 (95% CI 1.35-2.58; P<.001) times more likely to opt for municipal medical treatment than primary care. However, the effect of online browsing on the selection probability of county-level hospitals was not significant compared with primary hospitals (P=.59). Robust analysis verified that accessing the internet had a similar effect on Chinese adults’ medical decisions. Conclusions Chinese adults who use the internet are a little less likely to go to the hospital than self-care. The internet has broken down the barriers to obtain knowledge of common diseases and thus has a slight substitution effect of self-care on hospital care. Internet use may increase the probability of adults going to municipal hospitals. The rising tendency of visiting high-level medical institutions may be consequently exacerbated due to knowledge monopoly of severe and complicated diseases that is difficult to eliminate, and the increase in inconsistent and incomplete medical information online will blur the residents’ cognitive boundary of common diseases and severe diseases. Exploring the substantive impact of the internet on medical decision making is of great significance for further rational planning and utilization of the internet, in order to guide patients to appropriate medical institution.

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“…In addition, medical care seeking has emotional costs including fear of a potential diagnosis of serious illness and of death, and can be complicated by lack of social support and self-efficacy in coping with the anticipated health threat (Addison, 2017;Howell & Shepperd, 2017;Hua & Howell, 2019;Kannan & Veazie, 2014;Lauver, 1992;St. Jean, Jindal, & Liao, 2017;Waring, McManus, Amante, Darling, & Kiefe, 2018). Severe psychological distress has been associated with both the tendency to avoid health services, preventive care and health information as a way to avoid emotional costs (Leyva et al, 2020;Ye et al, 2012), and with higher total expenditures and use of health services (Lauver, 1992) and repeated health information seeking (McMullan, Berle, Arnáez, & Starcevic, 2019;Poel, Baumgartner, Hartmann, & Tanis, 2016).…”

Section: Correlates Of Healthcare Behaviorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are you a health care and information seeker or avoider? A new assessment tool

Leonidou¹,

Panayiotou²

2021

Preprint

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Healthcare seeking and avoidance behaviors, when applied maladaptively may negatively impact individuals’ functioning and the public healthcare system. This study describes the development of the first tool to assess these behaviors. 359 university students (279 females, 80 males; age range=17-45) completed the new Healthcare Behaviors Questionnaire and measures of illness anxiety. Results supported a six- (Care Seeking, Information Seeking, Asking for Care, Care Avoidance, Information Avoidance and Postponing Care) and a two-factor structure (Healthcare Seeking and Healthcare Avoidance) of the tool and provided evidence for its good psychometric properties (internal consistency and construct validity). There were no gender, living place and medical diagnosis differences in healthcare seeking and avoidance behaviors. Healthcare Behaviors Questionnaire factors were significant predictors of increased illness anxiety. The factor structure and psychometric properties of the tool remain to be confirmed in other samples, including clinical and medical populations, to support its clinical and research utility.

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Online health information seeking by adults hospitalized for acute coronary syndromes: Who looks for information, and who discusses it with healthcare providers?

Cited by 28 publications

References 43 publications

Characteristics Associated With Facebook Use and Interest in Digital Disease Support Among Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data From the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF) Cohort

Characteristics Associated With Facebook Use and Interest in Digital Disease Support Among Older Adults With Atrial Fibrillation: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Baseline Data From the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Elements in Atrial Fibrillation (SAGE-AF) Cohort

Impact of the Internet on Medical Decisions of Chinese Adults: Longitudinal Data Analysis

Are you a health care and information seeker or avoider? A new assessment tool

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