Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jan 28, 2021
Date Accepted: May 6, 2021
Health Information-seeking Behaviors: A Review of National Survey Instruments
ABSTRACT
Background:
The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has also emerged as an infodemic, worsening the harm of the pandemic for people. The situation has highlighted the need for a deeply rooted understanding of health-information seeking behaviors (HISB).
Objective:
The aim of this paper is to review and provide insight regarding methodologies and the construct of content HISB surveys by answering the following research question: what are the characteristics of measurement tools for assessing HISBs in nationally representative surveys around the world?
Methods:
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) was used as a framework for the study. A data search was performed through six international and two Korean search engines between October 22, 2017, and November 13, 2017. Initially, the studies performed among nationally representative samples within the past 10 years were included to discover HISB survey instruments. The methodologies of the studies using HISB surveys were analyzed. For content analysis, two researchers reached a consensus through discussion by scrutinizing the contents of each survey questionnaire.
Results:
A total of 10 survey tools from six countries were identified after a review of 1,476 records from the search results. Five survey tools (HINTS, HTS, ANHCS, NHIS, and HTHS) from the United States (U.S.) and each of one tool from European Union (E.U.), France, Germany, Israel, and Poland were identified. National institutes or individual researchers designed these surveys by using the items of the dichotomous or Likert scale. Telephone or online surveys were commonly used targeting the adult population (≥ 15 years of age). From the content analysis, the domains of the survey items were categorized as follows: health (overall health, lifestyle, and cancer), information (health information and patient medical records), and channel (offline and online). All categories encompassed behavioral and attitude dimensions. A theoretical framework—an Information-Channel-Health (ICH) structure—for HISB was proposed.
Conclusions:
The results can contribute to the development and implementation of survey tools for HISB with integrated questionnaire items. This will help to understand HISB trends and enhance patient engagement in national healthcare.
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