Highlights A research model based on S-O-R framework is proposed to examine the factors that influence health information avoidance intention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Information avoidance in the COVID-19 pandemic is determined by consumers’ negative affect: sadness, anxiety, and cognitive dissonance. Information avoidance intention influences consumers’ subsequent intentions of taking preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer's negative affect is influenced by perceived threat and perceived information overload during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background Diabetes has become one of the most prevalent chronic diseases, and many people living with diabetes use social media to seek health information. Recently, an emerging social media app, TikTok, has received much interest owing to its popularity among general health consumers. We notice that there are many videos about diabetes on TikTok. However, it remains unclear whether the information in these videos is of satisfactory quality. Objective This study aimed to assess the quality of the information in diabetes-related videos on TikTok. Methods We collected a sample of 199 diabetes-related videos in Chinese. The basic information presented in the videos was coded and analyzed. First, we identified the source of each video. Next, 2 independent raters assessed each video in terms of the completeness of six types of content (the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, management, and outcomes). Then, the 2 raters independently assessed the quality of information in the videos, using the DISCERN instrument. Results In regard to the sources of the videos, we found 6 distinct types of uploaders; these included 3 kinds of individual users (ie, health professionals, general users, and science communicators) and 3 types of organizational users (ie, news agencies, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations). Regarding content, our results show that the videos were primarily about diabetes management and contained limited information on the definition of the disease, symptoms, risk factors, evaluation, and outcomes. The overall quality of the videos was acceptable, on average, although the quality of the information varied, depending on the sources. The videos created by nonprofit organizations had the highest information quality, while the videos contributed by for-profit organizations had the lowest information quality. Conclusions Although the overall quality of the information in the diabetes videos on TikTok is acceptable, TikTok might not fully meet the health information needs of patients with diabetes, and they should exercise caution when using TikTok as a source of diabetes-related information.

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become one of the most critical public health problems worldwide. Because many COPD patients are using video-based social media to search for health information, there is an urgent need to assess the information quality of COPD videos on social media. Recently, the short-video app TikTok has demonstrated huge potential in disseminating health information and there are currently many COPD videos available on TikTok; however, the information quality of these videos remains unknown. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the information quality of COPD videos on TikTok. Methods In December 2020, we retrieved and screened 300 videos from TikTok and collected a sample of 199 COPD-related videos in Chinese for data extraction. We extracted the basic video information, coded the content, and identified the video sources. Two independent raters assessed the information quality of each video using the DISCERN instrument. Results COPD videos on TikTok came mainly from two types of sources: individual users (n=168) and organizational users (n=31). The individual users included health professionals, individual science communicators, and general TikTok users, whereas the organizational users consisted of for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, and news agencies. For the 199 videos, the mean scores of the DISCERN items ranged from 3.42 to 4.46, with a total mean score of 3.75. Publication reliability (P=.04) and overall quality (P=.02) showed significant differences across the six types of sources, whereas the quality of treatment choices showed only a marginally significant difference (P=.053) across the different sources. Conclusions The overall information quality of COPD videos on TikTok is satisfactory, although the quality varies across different sources and according to specific quality dimensions. Patients should be selective and cautious when watching COPD videos on TikTok.

Background With the world’s population aging, more health-conscious older adults are seeking health information to make better-informed health decisions. The rapid growth of the internet has empowered older adults to access web-based health information sources. However, research explicitly exploring older adults’ online health information seeking (OHIS) behavior is still underway. Objective This systematic scoping review aims to understand older adults’ OHIS and answer four research questions: (1) What types of health information do older adults seek and where do they seek health information on the internet? (2) What are the factors that influence older adults’ OHIS? (3) What are the barriers to older adults’ OHIS? (4) How can we intervene and support older adults’ OHIS? Methods A comprehensive literature search was performed in November 2020, involving the following academic databases: Web of Science; Cochrane Library database; PubMed; MEDLINE; CINAHL Plus; APA PsycINFO; Library and Information Science Source; Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts; Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection; Communication & Mass Media Complete; ABI/INFORM; and ACM Digital Library. The initial search identified 8047 publications through database search strategies. After the removal of duplicates, a data set consisting of 5949 publications was obtained for screening. Among these, 75 articles met the inclusion criteria. Qualitative content analysis was performed to identify themes related to the research questions. Results The results suggest that older adults seek 10 types of health information from 6 types of internet-based information sources and that 2 main categories of influencing factors, individual-related and source-related, impact older adults’ OHIS. Moreover, the results reveal that in their OHIS, older adults confront 3 types of barriers, namely individual, social, and those related to information and communication technologies. Some intervention programs based on educational training workshops have been created to intervene and support older adults’ OHIS. Conclusions Although OHIS has become increasingly common among older adults, the review reveals that older adults’ OHIS behavior is not adequately investigated. The findings suggest that more studies are needed to understand older adults’ OHIS behaviors and better support their medical and health decisions in OHIS. Based on the results, the review proposes multiple objectives for future studies, including (1) more investigations on the OHIS behavior of older adults above 85 years; (2) conducting more longitudinal, action research, and mixed methods studies; (3) elaboration of the mobile context and cross-platform scenario of older adults’ OHIS; (4) facilitating older adults’ OHIS by explicating technology affordance; and (5) promoting and measuring the performance of OHIS interventions for older adults.

PurposeAlthough leveraging social media to access healthcare information is nothing new, a boom in short video apps offers new potential for disseminating health-related information. However, it is still unclear how short video apps might facilitate and benefit users’ consumption of health information. Furthermore, the technology features of short video apps complicate attempts to conduct research about them; as a consequence, they have been understudied. For addressing these concerns, this study adopts an affordance perspective to investigate the relationship between affordances and user experience and to examine factors that contribute to users’ intention to continue using short video apps to obtain health information.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon affordance theory, we constructed a research model that integrates four types of affordances (livestreaming, searching, meta-voicing and recommending), three types of user experience (immersion, social presence and credibility perception), and user’s intention to continue use. We employed an online survey and obtained a sample of 372 valid responses from TikTok (DouYin) users in China. The partial least squares (PLS) method was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe study found that the user experience, in terms of social presence, immersion and credibility perception, can significantly predict users’ intention to continue using short video apps to obtain health information. Furthermore, the user experience was positively associated with the different affordances provided by the short video apps.Originality/valueThe findings of this study have several implications. First, the study contributes to the health information behavior literature by incorporating the aspect of user experience. Moreover, the study extends the application of affordance theory to users’ health information acquisition, and it carries some practical implications on how to leverage the great potential of short video apps to serve public health communication better.

The purpose of this study is to improve prehistoric knowledge of paleo‐typhoon and winter monsoon activity in the western North Pacific after 8 cal. ka BP. We examine two sediment cores derived from lakes located to the south and north of the Ilan Plain in northeastern Taiwan. Seasonal and typhoon rainfall data over the past several decades are collected for this study region. We also use mineral indicators, K/Rb ratios and grain size to estimate sediment sources, intensity of chemical weathering and rainfall intensity. The results show that the chemical weathering index (K/Rb ratio) of Meihua Lake indicates the continuing effects of autumn rainfall, while coarse grain sizes of Dahu Lake sediments suggest increased intensity in typhoon rainfall. Grain size results reveal that increasing El Niño–Southern Oscillation intensity in the tropical Pacific has intensified the activity of super typhoons in the western North Pacific. Finally, we find that frequent activity of super paleo‐typhoons occurred in Taiwan during the La Niña‐like state, and the strengthening winter monsoon activity and higher sea surface temperature enhanced plentiful autumn rainfall in El Niño‐like state. After comparing our results with the paleo‐typhoon data in Japan and south China, we suggest that the tracks of super typhoon are mainly affected by variations in the warm pool and subtropical Northwestern Pacific High in the western Pacific. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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ABSTRACT1 Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 2 Central Geological Survey, MOEA * Corresponding author address: Dr. Sheng-Rong Song, Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC; E-mail: srsong@ntu.edu.twTo evaluate potential monitoring sites as well as useful ions which are capable of serving as earthquake precursors, ten subsurface water bodies in different tectonic domains in southwestern, northern and northeastern Taiwan were selected. They included the deep circulation of hot springs, shallower artesian springs and groundwater. Most of the hot springs clearly show chemical anomalies which correlate with earthquake events during the monitoring periods. Against this, the groundwater does not correspond to any events. Hot springs from deeper reservoirs are superior to artesian springs and groundwater from shallower reservoirs. The artesian spring from the smaller subsurface water body is superior to the groundwater from larger reservoirs. Aside from this, anions, especially chloride, outperform cations as geochemical precursors for earthquake monitoring. It is unambiguous that the major factors that determine the usefulness of chemical anomalies in the waters for earthquake precursory monitoring are the kinds, the depths and the size of reservoirs and the ion species of the subsurface water bodies.