Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Feb 19, 2020
Date Accepted: Jun 13, 2020
Predictors of Internet Health Information Seeking Behaviors among Young Adults Living with HIV Across the United States
ABSTRACT
Background:
Consistent with their penchant for digital communication, young adults living with HIV (YALH) use digital communication media to seek out health information. Understanding the types of health information sought online and the characteristics of these information-seeking YALH is vital when designing digital health interventions for YALH.
Objective:
This study describes characteristics of YALH who seek health information through the Internet. Results are relevant to digital health interventions, patient education, and efforts to improve retention in care.
Methods:
YALH (ages 18-34) self-reported Internet use during an evaluation of digital HIV care interventions across ten demonstration projects in the United States (N=716). Lasso models were used to select characteristics that predicted whether YALH reported seeking general health (GH) and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information on the Internet during the past six months.
Results:
Almost a third (29.5%) and a fifth (21.5%) of the YALH reported searching for GH and SRH information, respectively; 27% of the transgender YALH searched for gender-affirming care topics. Areas under the curve (> .70) indicated success in building models to predict Internet health information seeking. Consistent with prior studies, higher education and income were associated with health information seeking. Higher self-reported antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, substance use, and not reporting transgender gender identity also predicted health information seeking. Reporting a sexual orientation other than gay, lesbian, bisexual, or straight predicted SRH information seeking.
Conclusions:
YALH commonly seek both GH and SRH information online, particularly for those exploring sexual identity. Providers should discuss the most commonly sought SRH topics, the use of digital technology, and be open to discussing information found online to better assist YALH in finding accurate information. Characteristics associated with health information seeking behavior may also be used to develop and tailor digital health interventions for YALH.
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