David Ka-Ki Wong|Man-Kuen Cheung
Online Health Information Seeking and eHealth Literacy Among Patients Attending a Primary Care Clinic in Hong Kong: A Cross-Sectional Survey
University of Hong Kong|University of Hong Kong
previous studies suggested patients online health information seeking affects medical consultations patientdoctor relationships uptodate picture patients online health informationseeking behaviors inform prepare frontline health care professionals collaborate facilitate empower patients access manage health information found onlinethis study explores prevalence patterns predictors online health informationseeking behaviors among primary care patients hong kong relations online health information seeking electronic health ehealth literacypatients attending university primary care clinic hong kong asked complete questionnaire survey demographic backgrounds health status frequency pattern online health information seeking contents sources reasons online health information seeking ehealth literacy ehealth literacy measured validated ehealth literacy scale eheals regression analyses explored various demographic behavioral predictors online health information seeking predictors ehealth literacyin 9732 11621194 respondents used internet 8744 10161162 used internet find health information respondents 6597 6651008 searched monthly 2688 2711008 asked doctor health information found online doctors 561 152271 showed little interest sought topic symptom 8159 8291016 top reason noticing new symptoms change health 7008 7121016 popular source online encyclopedia 6998 7111016 top reason choosing source convenience 5541 5631016 poisson regression analysis identified high eheals score fair poor selfrated health chronic medical condition using internet several times day significant predictors online health information seeking multiple regression analysis identified lower age better selfrated health frequent internet use frequent online health information seeking types health information sought significant predictors higher ehealth literacyonline health information seeking prevalent among primary care patients hong kong minority shared information doctors websites chosen convenience accuracy authoritativeness doctors recognize patients online health informationseeking behavior facilitate empower search highquality online health information