Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jan 14, 2021
Date Accepted: Nov 4, 2021
Understanding health empowerment in the context of online information seeking: the perspective of information processing
ABSTRACT
Background:
Massive, easily accessible online health information empowers users to better cope with health problems. Most patients search for relevant online health information before seeing a doctor to alleviate information asymmetry. However, the mechanism of how online health information affects health empowerment is still unclear.
Objective:
To study how online health information processing affects health empowerment.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study included 343 samples who had searched online health information before the consultation. Respondents' perceptions of online information cues, benefits, health literacy, and health empowerment were assessed.
Results:
Argument quality and source credibility have significant and positive effects on perceived information benefits, but only argument quality has a significant effect on perceived decision-making benefits. Two types of perceived benefits in turn affect health empowerment. The effects of argument quality on perceived informational benefits and perceived decision-making benefits on health empowerment are significantly stronger for the high health literacy group than the low health literacy group (t = 7.156, p < 0.001; t = 23.240, p < 0.001). While, the effects of source credibility on perceived informational benefits and perceived informational benefits on health empowerment are significantly weaker for the high health literacy group than the low health literacy group (t = -10.497, p < 0.001; t = -6.344, p < 0.001). The effect of argument quality on perceived informational benefits shows no significant difference between high and low health literacy groups.
Conclusions:
This study found that two information processing routes have significant effects on perceived benefits and health empowerment, the health empowerment processes of high and low health literacy groups are different.
Citation
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