Previously submitted to: JMIR mHealth and uHealth (no longer under consideration since Aug 21, 2018)
Date Submitted: Mar 13, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 13, 2018 - Aug 21, 2018
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Health information seeking and influencing factors among a rural residential population in Zhejiang Province, China: a cross-sectional study
Background:
An increasing number of patients have been access to Internet-based health information. Studies have shown that the prevalence of online health information in different countries varies. However, little research has focused on Chinese rural adults.
Objective:
The objective of the study was to investigate the sources of health information used, their preferences for the source of health information and levels of trust in those information sources among a rural residential population in Zhejiang, China. We also aimed to evaluate how these findings varied according to participant characteristics.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study among a rural residential population in Zhejiang, China. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the information such as age, gender, education, occupation, living status, and other health related information of the participants by trained local staff. Chi-square test was applied to evaluate the influencing factors of doctor and Internet health information sources.
Results:
A total of 652 individuals participated in the survey. Doctor was still the first choice of health information and 97.8% of participants trusted it, while 34.8% of them had faith in online health information. 36.7% of participants indicated that they had accessed the Internet during the last year. Among 239 who used the web, 97 (weighted percentage 40.6%) reported that they had sought health information. And 103 responded that the online health information was helpful. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that younger adults, individual with higher education, people with service-based tertiary industry career and excellent health status used online information more often and had more faith in it (p<0.001).
Conclusions:
Using Internet for health information is uncommon in a rural residential population in Zhejiang, China. And they still tend to seek help from doctor for health information and trust them. Internet as a source of health information should be encouraged and its credibility should be ensured.
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